From gars@netcom.com Sat Nov 21 01:00:49 1998 Date: Tue, 17 Nov 1998 19:56:43 -0800 (PST) From: Gary Night Owl To: Internet Recipients of Wotanging Ikche Subject: Wotanging Ikche--nanews06.047 _ __ _____ __ _ __ ___ ____ _ __ ___ ' ) / / ') / / ) ' ) ) / ) / ' ) ) / ) / / / / / / /--/ / / / ___ / / / / ___ (_(_/ (__/ ( / (_ / (_ (___/ '__/_ / (_ (___/ ' O ____ _ , ___ _ , ___ O o O / ' ) / / ) ' ) / / ' O o O / /-< / /--/ /-- VOLUME 06, ISSUE 047 O o o o o O __/_ / ) (___/ / ( (___, November 21, 1998 O o O KANOHEDA ANIYVWIYA Otapi'sin Atsinikiisinaakssin O o O Es'te Opunvk'vmucvse ni-mah-mi-kwa-zoo-min Aunchemokauhettittea O ( N A T I V E A M E R I C A N N E W S ) This issue contains articles from Paths-L, Minn-Ind, Innu-L & Nat-Film Lists; Settlers In Support of Indigenous Sovereignty; UUCP email; NUEVO AMANECER PRESS; A-Infos News Service; Newsgroup: alt.native Articles appearing have been previously posted for public dissemination and/or permission for inclusion has been secured. Letters of authorization are on file. A list of those granting permission to repost their words in this issue are listed at the end of part A. I thank each of you for allowing your words to be shared with the people. IMPORTANT!! ----------- To all who send copywrite protected articles, make very sure you have permission from the copywrite holder (a newspaper, the AP, a magazine, an author) because a new law is now in effect that says you can be prosecuted even if there is no monetary gain. Just because a newspaper has a website where it posts some or all of its editions does not grant permission for their redistribution. Be careful and be sure you pass on the items you do with full permission. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, all material appearing in this newsletter is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for educational purposes. <----<<<< >>>>----> This newsletter is a way of keeping the brothers and sisters who share our Spirit informed about current events within the lives of those who walk the Red Road. ++ It may be subscribed to via email by sending a request from your own internet addressable account to gars@netcom.com ++ It is archived at http://www.nanews.org Thanks to Borries Demeler all _Wotanging_Ikche_ (part a) submissions to AISESnet are archived under AISESnet and can be accessed easily by World Wide Web: 1994: http://aises.uthscsa.edu/94_dis.html 1995: http://aises.uthscsa.edu/95_dis.html 1996: http://aises.uthscsa.edu/96_dis.html 1997: http://aises.uthscsa.edu/97_dis.html This is a searchable index to the AISESnet Discussion mailing list database archive, and the keyword "Wotanging" will retrieve all issues for that year. Downloading Wotanging Ikche on AOL From: MAANG1419@aol.com Just thought I would share some info. I could not download on to a .txt because I kept getting the message (when I tried to retrieve it) that the text editor could not handle the volume. This time I downloaded it on to a .doc and when I retrieved it out of file manager, IT WORKED. "Then another great cry went out in the dust: "Crazy Horse is coming! Crazy Horse is coming!" Off toward the west and north, they were yelling, "Hoka Hey!" like a big wind roaring, and making the tremolo; and you could hear the eagle bone whistles screaming." __ Black Elk, Oglala +- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -+ | Indian Pledge of Allegiance | The Indian Pledge of Alleg- | | iance was first presented | I pledge allegiance to my Tribe,| on 2 December '93 during the | to the democratic principles | opening address of the Nat- | of the Republic | ional Congress of American | and to the individual freedoms | Indian Tribal-States Relat- | borrowed from the Iroquois and | ions Panel in Reno, NV. NCAI | Choctaw Confederacies, | plans distribution of the | as incorporated in the United | Indian Pledge to all Indian | States Constitution, | Nations. | so that my forefathers | | shall not have died in vain | Walk in Beauty! Night Owl +- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -+ +- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -+ | Journey | In the summer and early fall | The Bloodline | of 1998 the Treaty Unity Riders | | rode a thousand miles on horse- | For all that live and live by law | back, carrying a staff and | We Stand, we Call, We Ride | praying each step of the way. | For All that fear and fear by sight | | We Hear, we Listen, we Ride | These prayers were offered for | For all that pray and pray by strength| each of us, and that the Unity | We Feel, we Move, we Ride | of all Peoples might happen. | For all that die and die by greed | | We Hurt, we Cry, we Ride | Tatanka Cante forwarded this | For all that birth and birth by right | poem on behalf of all the Unity | We Smile, we Hold, we Ride | Riders that we might stop and | For all that need and need by heart | ask if the next words we say, the | We Came, we Went, we Rode. | next act we make is for the good | | of the People or is it from ego | Treaty Unity Riders | for self. +- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -+ O'siyo Brothers and Sisters! I have not forsaken the effort to catalog good language learning and preservation sources. It is very important and central to my belief we must do all we can to preserve our culture. Each carrier of the language of his or her tribe is a protector of the very roots for the next seven generations. Language is one of the absolute keys, and it must not be forgotten. For now I speak of this great need less because of the greater need to insure our Peoples survive the winter. =/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\=/\= Again, this winter this editorial section will feature groups or individuals who are helping those in need, primarily on reservations and especially those who aid children and elders. Urban help will not be excluded. I have lived in the Cedar-Riverside area of Minneapolis and been a guest in Lakota Housing in Rapid City and in Shiprock. The need to eat and be warm does not end because a person has left the rez. PLEASE forward contact information for all you know who help those less able to do so make it through the harsh winter months. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - For additional information or to make donations contact: For the Red Shirt Community: Marvin Helper P.O. Box 312 Hermosa, SD 57744 For Porcupine, Oglala and Wounded Knee: Joe Chasing Horse % P.O. Box 8392 Rapid City, S.D. 57709 For Truck loads & UPS Shipments: Joe Chasing Horse 714 Paha Sapa Drive Rapid City, SD 57701 From: tusweca Darlene Cross PO Box 52 Kyle SD 577075 From: yona@infi.net Toy drive going on for the Cheyenne River Reservation in Eagle Butte If you would like to donate a toy or more information, you may contact me by email: yona@infi.net or phone me 757-425-7992..you may also drop off a toy if you are in the vicinity of our store Na-va'kee 618 Hilltop West. biah yazzie From: DORSEY.THOMAS_J+@ALBANY.VA.GOV Norma Grassrope Lower Brule Reservation Lower Brule, South Dakota 57028 (605) 473-5594 She is the chair of a charitable group called the Womens Support Group. From: Pioquark@aol.com Clay Watson Pioneer Industries 1100 E. 24th St. Cheyenne, Wy. 82001 (307)778-7860 pioquark@aol.com These donations will be gifted to the Rose Bud and Pine Ridge Reservations in South Dakota and the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming. I'm on the road a lot, out back loading the truck etc. PLEASE leave a message if there is no answer.. From: ALBERT SUN BUTLER Ti Ospaye PO Box 200 Wanblee SD 57577 Supporting the elders through personal contact: Adopt A Grandparent Mountain Light Center PO Box 241 Taos NM 87571 TEL: 505 776 8474 FAX: 505 776 8050 For information call 800 291-8474. email: agpmlc@aol.com For the Cherokee, NC Rez and South FL (Now taking one load/week): From: "lonewolf" Lone Wolf -or- Bob and Linda Crowe 1060 N. Bee St. 2800 West Highway 5 Deland, Fl 32720 Bowden, GA 30108 770-258-1536 From BIGMTLIST The Dineh could use some blankets to help with the cold winters. Bonnie Whitesinger Box 1073 Hotevilla, AZ 86030 Since UPS doesn't deliver to PO boxes, you would have to use parcel post. --------------------------------------------- From: leslie@neca.com Pathways to Spirit in Fort Collins Colorado Contact: Carmeen Klausner Phone: 970 282 8573 email pathways@webaccess.net This group is non profit and takes tractor trailer loads of clothes and furniture to Pine Ridge several times each year. --------------------------------------------- From: "g hindsman" Subj: Help for Families on Rez Morning Star Fellowship Circle, Inc. All of the donations are sorted and packed for each family according to size, sex etc. This year we are in particular need of blankets, space heaters, fans and linens (towels and sheets). We have many toys and clothing of all sizes but good winter coats are always useful. We are registered as a private non profit, so receipts can be given for donations. We can always use money donations. We deliver in December, June and in August. We also do mail deliveries occasionally. Over the years, we have made many friends at Pine Ridge, Rosebud, the Crow Agency and others. We try to help with special requests when we can. Morning Star has also been a home away from home for students and elders who are temporarily on the East Coast. Our headquarters are located in Delaware but we have other circles in Virginia, New York, West Virginia, Maryland and soon in Florida. --------------------------------------------- From: Janet S MORNING STAR OUTREACH c/o Cassada 320 N. 31st #13 Bismarck, North Dakota 58501 Charitable organization founded and directed by Dawn & Douglas Cassada. MORNING STAR OUTREACH chooses to offer direct as well as mediation assistance to the United States American Indian Reservations in the form of clothing, bedding, food provisions, toys for the children, scholarship funding and household provisions. This also includes craft items, fabrics, beads, patterns, yarns and notions. MORNING STAR OUTREACH chooses, because of the census reports, to support the reservations of the Native Lakota Sioux Nation within the United States, South and North Dakota. For information about Morning Star you can call or write our Outreach Coordinator at: Morning Star Fellowship Circle, Inc. 321 Beverly Place Wilmington, DE 19809 Phone: 302-764-1178 EMail - candy crow@aol.com --------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 17 Dec 1997 14:03:10 -0800 From: POP ACCOUNT We would ask simply that you take a few minutes to visit our web site at http://www.nightwalker.org/holidays and review the information provided there. If you find it in yourself to help these children, there is a link on the site there to our SSL Secure server for online donations, or you can download and print out a form that can be mailed instead. If you do not have access to the World Wide Web, but would still like to help out, you can send an email to donate@nightwalker.org, and a donation form will be automatically sent back to you. Night Walker Enterprises is an all volunteer, 501(c)(3) non profit corporation, and all donations are tax deductible to the extent permitted by IRS regulations and current US tax law. --------------------------------------------- Those shipping large amounts of materials to reservations may have a great opportunity to facilitate your shipping. This arrived in this week's email, and I have not had an opportunity to pursue it further. I offer it now, in hopes it will help some in the contact list. A lot of reservations are near military facilities. PLEASE let me know how things go if you do attempt to use this service: Date: Thu, 11 Dec 1997 11:45:42 -0600 Subj: transportation of relief materials Senders name removed by request. FYI For transportation of relief materials by non-profit agencies or groups. Telephone all of your local congressman's offices and request in writing, their assistance in obtaining military transportation assistance. Then contact the nearest military base with an airfield, Public Affairs Office (PAO) and also a written letter to the Base Commander also requesting assistance. The military and in particular the USAF has many cargo aircraft (C-130 Hercules, KC-10, C-141, C-17 and C-5). The State Air National Guard's own C-130's and the US Marines owns a number of C-130 aircraft. Flying Aircrews require a number of training flight hours per quarter to maintain their Flight Proficiency. There is always some aircraft heading in the correct direction. The aircraft cannot deliver to the door but can deliver to within a few hundred miles at the most. Please consider that some of these aircraft weigh 140 Tons or more and will "sink" into concrete less than 18+ inches deep. Therefore they cannot land at just any airfield runway. The shipped materials must be shipped securely fastened on pallets (no loose material, everything sealed in boxes, some restrictions on flammables and no propellents (explosives)). The PAO will provide the necessary guidance. The local Flight Engineers, Loadmasters and even Boy Scouts will help with the inspection, boxing and palletizing. The USAF is always hauling materials (on a non-interference basis naturally) for charitable purposes. No one likes an empty cargo aircraft. --------------------------------------------- From: The Stones Another organization you might consider adding to your list is: Lakota Link http://rtt.colorado.edu/~cameron/LakxotaKxoyag.html Ellen Stone The following snailmail addresses are included for help to communities on the Cheyenne River Rez: Craig and Ruth Cameron LakxotaKxoyag P O Box 176 Jamestown, CO 80455-0176 Lakxota Kxoyag c/o Marvin and Veronica Holy Town of Bridger Representatives P.O. Box 172 Howes, SD 57748 Lakxota Kxoyag c/o Violet Catches HC 77 Box 500 Howes, SD 57748 Lakxota Kxoyag c/o Kathleen Eagle Chasing Town of Cherry Creek Representatives P.O. Box 101 Cherry Creek, SD 57622 UPS ADDRESS: Lakxota Kxoyag c/o Kathleen Eagle Chasing Town of Cherry Creek Representatives House #245 Cherry Creek, SD 57622. Lakxota Kxoyag c/o Elvira Chasing Hawk Town of Red Scaffold Representatives Box 481 Red Scaffold RD Red Scaffold, SD 57626 or c/o Candace Hollow Horn Box 522 Red Scaffold RD Red Scaffold, SD 57626 --------------------------------------------- From: JRP The Interreligious Foundation for Community Organization 402 West 145th Street * New York, NY 10031 212/926-5757 * 212/926-5842 (fax) * ifco@igc.apc.org (email) * www.ifconews.org (web) (earmark your gift for November caravan to Chiapas) Bucketline to the Elders this group provides food and supplies First Security Bank to the elders of the 205 N Main Big Mountain /Black Mesa area. Layton, UT 84041 Redfeather Development Corp This group repairs and winterizes Box 52652 housing for the Bellevue, WA 98015-2652 elders of the Dakotas area. Peace! Night Owl , , Gary Night Owl gars@netcom.com (*,*) P. O. Box 672168 gars@nanews.org (`-') Marietta, GA 30067, U.S.A. gars@igc.apc.org ===w=w=== gars@bellsouth.net Fax: 770-528-9643 gars@juno.com ----------- News of the people featured in this issue ---------- - Passing of Leech Lake Elder - Lac Du Flambeau Treaty Run - Desecration of Paiute Graves - Former Cherokee Eastern Band - Buffalo Emergency Chief in Court - Indian Remains in Louisiana - Alberni Res School - Border Crossing Rights Upheld Civil Suit Resumes - Mohawk Smugglers Convicted - Holiday to Recognize Indians - Chumash Site Found - Mine Owner Threatens Law Suit - Passamaquoddy "Band" - Gambling Payments Makes Land Claim - Ninilchik Tribe/Feds in Standoff - Gustafsen Coverup Continues - Wolverine's Appeal Denied - Lower Churchill - Native Prisoner - Churchill Archaeology - A Hundred Years Ago - First Chiapas/Now Guerrero - Poem: Respect, The Key To Life - Chiapas Schools Construction Update - Verse: Hawaiian Book of Days - We Have Risen - Conferences and Powwows - Minnesota Highway - Native America Calling --------- "RE: Passing of Leech Lake Elder" --------- Date: Mon, 16 Nov 1998 01:02:22 -0600 From: Bernard & Feather Rock Subj: Passing of Leech Lake Elder Mailing List: Minnesota Indian Affairs Lead Singer of Ojibwa Hymn Singers journeys on. James E. Allen, Sr, 75 of Cass Lake, Minnesota, passed away on November 13, 1998 at Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis. Jim was a highly respected elder and native speaker of the Ojibwe language from the Leech Lake Band. Mr. Allen was born May 7, 1923 at Cass Lake, Minnesota. He grew up in Onigum and attended school at Indian boarding schools in Flandreau and Pipestone. He was a Navy Veteran of WWII. As one of the leads of the Ojibwe Hymn Singers, Jim touched many lives throughout the Indian Communities in Minnesota. Jim was a member of the Bishops Committee in the Episcopal Church, a member of the Minnesota Council of Indian Elders and the Minnesota Indian Council on Aging, a member of the Cass Lake American Legion and AMVETS Post #40 of Leech Lake. >>--------------------------> North Central Minnesota Native American Veterans Outreach and Resource Center >>--------------------------> "We are still here and we are not going away. It is time that the newcomers to this land started paying proper respect to the elder status of the first nations." Otis Half Moon, Nez Perce, Lapwai, Idaho, June 1996 --------- "RE: Desecration of Paiute Graves" --------- Date: Fri, 13 Nov 1998 20:52:59 -0600 From: Bernard & Feather Rock Subj: Desecration of Paiute graves in Southern Oregon Mailing List: Minnesota Indian Affairs Paiutes want Lake County remains reburied LAKEVIEW - Representatives of the Northern Paiute tribes met recently to discuss the reburial of the human remains unearthed in the River's End Ranch project. Northern Paiute people from Beatty, Burns, Warm Springs and Fort Bidwell agreed their ancestral remains have been above the ground for too long. Scattered remains of Native Americans were located several years ago during the construction of a dam at the River's End Ranch near Valley Falls in Lake County. A 1,400-acre wetlands project was developed on the 6,000-acre ranch 25 miles north of Lakeview to restore historical wetlands on the Chewaucan River and to create wildlife and waterfowl habitat. The discovery has led to complex, lengthy actions against ranch owner Oliver Spires and widespread criticism of government agencies. Although government agencies said the area was of no cultural significance, suits were directed against Spires. *********** This story is from the Herald News of Klamath Falls, Oregon. Letters to the editor can be sent to: heraldandnews@heraldandnews.com --------- "RE: Buffalo Emergency" --------- Date: Sun, 15 Nov 1998 22:59:33 -0700 (MST) From: Buffalo Folks Subj: EMERGENCY ALERT: Horse Butte Buffalo Capture Facility Imminent UUCP email Greetings We only have 'til Wednesday The DOL is being very illegal about this whole affair they are trying to supersede any and all comments you might have made regarding this issue note: all pregnant females will be sent to slaughter please take a moment and read on.... The Montana Board of Livestock, currently undertaking a full fledged publicity campaign, has been promoting a plan to maintain strong authority over wild buffalo that enter Montana from Yellowstone. It is absurd for the control of wild buffalo to belong to one special interest group like the "non-elected" Montana Board of Livestock, which is funded by the livestock industry. Wildlife is owned by the public and should be managed according to the public's interest. To get even further control, this week, they are trying to place themselves above the law and supersede the public process. They are attempting to illegally gain a special permit to set up quarantine facility in traditional prime buffalo wintering/calving grounds on our public lands! This is ridiculous. Please read the following and take a moment to respond WE ONLY HAVE TIL WEDNESDAY... Help us get the word out...this is an all volunteer effort. Your voice and actions make the difference. Note: If this gets railroaded through, we will need even more warriors in the field immediately to protect the buffalo. Please help spread the word. Thank you for any and all efforts and for forwarding this to friends. Thank You. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ EMERGENCY ALERT Horse Butte Buffalo Capture Facility Rammed Through by U.S. Forest Service On November 8 1998, the Forest Service announced an Environmental Assessment on a proposed bison capture facility at Horse Butte, a critical wintering grounds for Yellowstone buffalo, and nesting site for bald eagles and sandhill cranes. The area also provides habitat for additional threatened and endangered species such as the grizzly bear and peregrine falcon. Horse Butte is on a peninsula on Hebgen Lake, NW of West Yellowstone, MT. The State of Montana Department of Livestock submitted a special use application to the Gallatin National Forest for the capture facility, including a request for operations in the short-term, until January 31, and for the long-term over the next 10 years. The chosen site violates Forest Service guidelines for protection of bald eagle nesting habitat. Under the long-term plan, the facility would operate during the courtship/nesting period, which conflicts with current Eagle Management Plans. The facility will capture and test buffalo who leave Yellowstone. All pregnant females, regardless of whether they test positive for brucellosis, will be shipped to slaughter. All other buffalo testing positive will be shipped to slaughter. The agencies claim that the operation of the capture facility will help with the "urgent need" to reduce bison mortality. However, in the winter of 1996-1997, the use of facilities like this one sent hundreds of buffalo to slaughter. Unfortunately, the only goal of this facility is to decide which buffalo to kill, and will not serve to reduce mortality. The project has been split into two parts. The first includes the short-term decision to build the facility, and is being pushed through with only a 12-day public comment period and will not be appealable under current laws. This part does not include an Environmental Assessment, and is an extension of the current Adjustment to the Interim Bison Management Plan. The goal of this part of the plan is to get the capture facility up and running, and authorize its use until January 31, 1999. The second phase of the plan is to authorize use of the facility after January 31. The reasoning behind the split approach, is that the facility will impact a bald eagle nesting area, and the area is closed to projects like the capture facility after February 1st to protect the site. The Gallatin NF will have to amend their Forest Plan to authorize the facility's use and exempt the Forest from meeting Bald Eagle management guidelines. Current guidelines do not allow permanent development within one-quarter mile of a nest site. The Forest Service claims that operation of the facility prior to February 1 is not expected to affect eagles or involve any extraordinary circumstances which may result in significant environmental effects, other than capture and "removal" of our last wild buffalo. This flies in the face of individuals who have reported sighting bald eagles in the area in the last week. In addition to this, last year the hazing operations used helicopters to move buffalo from the area, and the helicopters violated the closure by flying over the nesting site, and landing in the closed area. If the Forest Service tries to justify its amendment to exempt the capture facility from the eagle closure by claiming that that there is no recent history of nesting in the area (which it appears to be doing), maybe they should look to the disturbances they have already allowed as reason for that absence of nesting! The Forest Service Regional Office in Missoula, MT released a statement on Friday the 13th explaining their actions: "Because the long-term decision requires urgent action to help reduce bison mortality, the Chief of the Forest Service [Mike Dombeck] is being asked to exempt the project from a stay of implementation during the appeal period." Basically, what this means is that they want to go ahead with the proposed facility irregardless of what the public thinks, or the legality of their actions. The "stay of implementation" that the Regional Office in Missoula is asking Dombeck to exempt is what lawyers ask for in court after an individual or organization appeals a decision, and movement on the project is imminent. The Forest Service is basically acknowledging that their project will meet with much resistance, and is preparing to proceed irregardless of what the public thinks. Obviously, the timing on this proposal is such that they think they can ram it down our throats before we can mount an effective legal challenge. The decision to build the capture facility will commit "irretrievable resources" to a long term plan, at a time when management agencies are in the midst of assessing public comment on the Draft Environmental Impact Statement for long-term bison management. Building the Horse Butte facility has not yet been approved by EIS. Just because the State of Montana chose to not ask for a permit in a timely fashion is no reason to declare an emergency and illegally ram this project through without adequate public participation. This project is "piece-mealing" at its worst, as it attempts to implement a project (without proper analysis) that has been proposed in the current Bison Management Plan EIS. This is known as "pre-decisional action" and is illegal under NEPA guidelines. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ WHAT YOU CAN DO: Please help keep the symbol of our nation wild and free. The comments on the short-term project are needed by November 18, 1998 and on the longterm environmental assessment by December 1, 1998. We need you to write your comments on the government's plan NOW! Here's what you can do: + Mail your comments to Diana Enright, Region One Forest Service, email a copy, also + Email or Mail a copy of your comments to Mike Dombeck, Chief of the Forest Service + Send a copy your comments to the Gallatin National Forest, your Congressional Representatives, and the Montana DOL Send your official comments to: USDA Forest Service Headquarters attn: Diana Enright P.O. Box 7669 200 East Broadway Missoula, MT 59807 mailto:mailroom/R1@fs.fed.us Make sure to put "Capture Facility Comments: for Diana Enright" in the subject line. Mike Dombeck, Chief, Forest Service, Auditor's Bldg 201 14th Street, S.W. at Independence Ave., S.W. Washington, DC 20024 202-205-1661. mailto:Mike.Dombeck/wo@fs.fed.us ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Other Contact info... Let's get the issue heard about! Senators that have email access:http://www.senate.gov/senator/membmail.html US Federal Governmental Agencies: http://www.senate.gov/senator/membmail.html The electronic Activist: Contacts for newspapers and media around the country: http://www.berkshire.net/~ifas/activist/index.html Another great media list: http://www.cs.unb.ca/~alopez-o/newssources/mag.html Important Telephone Numbers & Addresses: FREE CALLS! Montana's Department of Livestock 800-523-3162 P.O. Box 202001 Helena, MT 59620 Be prepared to deal with slick PR media flaks! National Forest System Regional NEPA Contact: Kris Lee Northern Region (R1) Federal Building P.O. Box 7669 Missoula, MT 59807-7669 (406) 329-3511 mailto:klee/r1@fs.fed.us National Forest Service Public Affairs Office: 202-205-1760 For more info on the buffalo issue in Yellowstone, please see our pages at: http://www.wildrockies.org/buffalo ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Here is a sample letter for ideas: Ms. Diana Enright Forest Service Headquarters P.O. Box 7669 200 East Broadway Missoula, MT 59807 To Ms. Enright: Please consider the following comments on the two permits you are currently considering granting the Montana Department of Livestock to construct and operate a bison capture and holding facility on Forest Service lands close to West Yellowstone. SHORT-TERM PERMIT: Construction of the proposed capture facility would require exempting the Gallatin Forest from meeting guidelines established for bald eagle management in the Horse Butte area. Such an exemption should NOT be granted. The well-being of bald eagles on our public lands should be given much higher priority than the well-being of cattle. The proposed project goes against both the Montana Bald Eagle Management Plan and the Greater Yellowstone Bald Eagle Management Plan which stipulate that no permanent development should occur within 1/4 mile of a nest site. The proposed project therefore requires either formal modification of both plans, or compliance with them. You are proposing neither. A review of the impact of the proposed capture facility on bald eagles is necessary in order to evaluate the proposal. If the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has not conducted such a review, it should before any further steps are taken. If such a review has been conducted, it must be made available to the public for consideration before any decision is made. Bald eagles use the proposed capture facility site not only during nesting, but also during other times of the year. I saw a bald eagle in the immediate area of the proposed facility just a few days ago, i.e., November 11, 1998. The U.S. Forest Service should not ignore guidelines to protect a federally important wildlife species simply so that the "DOL can meet its objectives for capturing and testing bison on National Forest lands." Instead, the DOL should revise its objectives. There is absolutely no need to capture and test Yellowstone bison for brucellosis in order to maintain Montana's brucellosis-free status. Much more cost-effective approaches are available, and should be pursued. To begin with, all cattle grazing allotments on Forest Service lands close to the West boundary of Yellowstone National Park, including the one on Horse Butte, should be canceled. If disease management is the real objective, Horse Butte, being a peninsula, and therefore surrounded on three sides by water, is the ideal destination for bison leaving Yellowstone on the West side. Instead of harassing buffalo on this land, they should be welcomed there. LONG-TERM PERMIT: Issuing a permit to operate a capture and holding facility for 10 years would pre-judge the outcome of the ongoing NEPA process related to Yellowstone bison, and would constitute a pre- decisional action. Should the Forest Service choose to pursue this permit at this time, it can expect litigation. The Gallatin Forest management seems particularly prone to take actions which are obviously illegal and which compel environmental and other organizations to take costly and time consuming actions to prevent these from being implemented. This is not acceptable and will be brought to the attention of already interested members of Congress. Finally, the Gallatin Forest management has given the public less than two weeks to comment on this significant proposed action. This is clearly inadequate time to expect the public to respond, and does little to improve your already poor public image. Sincerely, cc: Ms. Laurie Fenwood, U.S. Forest Service, Washington, D.C. Mr. Dave Garber, Gallatin Forest Supervisor, Bozeman, Montana Our web pages are being updated ... http://www.wildrockies.org/buffalo It is time to rally Buffalo allies before the killing begins again! Please pass this update on to 7 friends and if you receive this, please subscribe to stay updated (2-3 updates per month) --------- "RE: Update: Indian Remains in Louisiana" --------- Date: Wed, 11 Nov 1998 00:01:47 -0000 From: "Keith and Michelle Pounds" Subj: Re: Controversy over Indian Remains in Louisiana UUCP email [Editorial Note: Last week's issue contains the original article referred to in this update.] Halito, Gary, Update: Indian Remains in Bogalusa, Louisiana The city seems to be in compliance to NAGPRA in regards to the repatriation phase of the Indian remains found in the Louisiana Cultural Heritage Museum in Bogalusa, Louisiana. Our concerns have resurfaced because reports regarding the acquisition of the remains on file with the museum don't match those being told by the Museum Curator. And the Curators' stories are grossly distant from those documented in a letter from the City Attorney to the Mayor. Original acquisition was claimed to be Angie, Louisiana and Woodville, Mississippi. The Curator suggested donation from Louisiana State University, then said the museum had no documentation. Now City Attorney reports Alabama and said people have "suggested" that they came from South America! We are asking for a Native presence in the museum, vice the present White Curator, who has done much to disrupt the repatriation process. And email assistance to city council members and local media to encourage an investigation into their acquisition. There's a reason for the lying. Please Help!!! Bogalusa City - http://www.boglausa.org Bogalusa Daily News - http://www.dnewsnet.com Medicine Wheel Intertribal Society - MKPounds@bellsouth.net P.O. Box 1326 Bogalusa, Louisiana 70427 --------- "RE: Border Crossing Rights Upheld" --------- Date: Thu, 12 Nov 1998 00:59:45 -0800 From: SISIS@envirolink.org (S.I.S.I.S.) Subj: Cross-Border Rights upheld by Court :-:-:-:-:-:-:-Settlers In Support of Indigenous Sovereignty-:-:-:-:-:-:-: COURT BACKS MOHAWK RIGHT TO CROSS BORDER DUTY FREE The Globe and Mail, Nov. 5, 1998 Page A10 (CP) [S.I.S.I.S. note: The following mainstream news article may contain biased or distorted information and may be missing pertinent facts and/or context. It is provided for reference only.] Cornwall Ont. Mohawks of the Akwesasne native reserve have a right to cross the Canadian-US border without paying duties, the Federal Court of Appeal confirmed yesterday. The federal government had appealed a 1997 ruling that Mohawks had the constitutional right to bring into Canada goods bought in the United States without paying duty. Grand Chief Mike Mitchell of the Mohawk Council of Akwesasne said in a news release yesterday that the decision reconfirmed the aboriginal right to cross the border without payment of duties and taxes, including the GST. "We anticipate that Canada will appeal to the Supreme Court," Mr. Mitchell said in the release. "However, it has been our experience that with each level of the court process in Canada our case gets stronger due to the fact that the Canadian court system has supported our decision." About 7,500 people live on the Akwesasne reserve, which is split in half by the Canadian-US border near Cornwall. The Mohawk Council governs the Canadian part. The case started in March, 1988, when Mr. Mitchell loaded a truck with personal goods and crossed into Canada from the United States. He refused to pay $361.64 in duties, and was charged under the Customs Act. "We are fighting this issue on two fronts," he said. "One is a legal process and the other is the political process." :-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is distributed without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for non-profit research and educational purposes only. :-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-: S.I.S.I.S. Settlers In Support of Indigenous Sovereignty P.O. Box 8673, Victoria, "B.C." "Canada" V8X 3S2 EMAIL: SISIS@envirolink.org WWW: http://kafka.uvic.ca/~vipirg/SISIS/SISmain.html --------- "RE: Mohawk Smugglers Convicted" --------- Date: Thu, 12 Nov 1998 00:59:09 -0800 From: SISIS@envirolink.org (S.I.S.I.S.) Subj: Mohawk sovereignty: "not a viable defence" rules US court :-:-:-:-:-:-:-Settlers In Support of Indigenous Sovereignty-:-:-:-:-:-:-: MOHAWK SMUGGLERS CONVICTED The Globe and Mail, Nov. 7, 1998, Page A6, (AP) [S.I.S.I.S. note: The following mainstream news article may contain biased or distorted information and may be missing pertinent facts and/or context. It is provided for reference only.] Syracuse, NY. By breaking up a lucrative smuggling ring at a Mohawk reserve straddling the Canadian US border, US authorities settled questions about the territory's sovereignty, according to a federal prosecutor. But some Mohawk leaders maintained yesterday that federal authorities overstepped their authority and violated native rights. "It is an infringement, any way you look at it," said Gus MacDonald, an aide to the elected tribal council. Larry Miller, the ring's leader and the last of 25 defendants convicted in the case, pleaded guilty Thursday in US District Court. "These pleas should be proof that US criminal law applies in Indian country and that [Mohawk] arguments about sovereignty are not a viable defence," US Attorney Thomas Maroney said after Mr. Miller's plea. Mr. Miller, who owns a bar in upstate New York, admitted laundering $80-million (US) in illicit profits from smuggling contraband cigarettes and liquor into Canada, where they were sold on the black market. Prosecutors said the ring smuggled $687-million (US) worth of tobacco and alcohol through the St. Regis Mohawk Reservation into Canada between 1991 and 1997. Mr. Maroney said many Mohawks were glad that federal authorities had intervened and broken up the ring. "We were helping them clean up their reservation so they can lead decent and law-abiding lives." Hilda Smoke, an elected chief, said that attitude violates the "nation to nation relationship with the federal government" that she said supposedly existed. "I doubt if [Mr. Maroney] knows what sovereignty is all about. He is infringing on our rights. If there are criminals to be caught... we have police that will take care of it." :-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-: Letters to the Globe and Mail - mailto:letters@GlobeAndMail.ca In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is distributed without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for non-profit research and educational purposes only. :-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-: S.I.S.I.S. Settlers In Support of Indigenous Sovereignty P.O. Box 8673, Victoria, "B.C." "Canada" V8X 3S2 EMAIL: SISIS@envirolink.org WWW: http://kafka.uvic.ca/~vipirg/SISIS/SISmain.html --------- "RE: Chumash Site Found" --------- Date: Sat, 14 Nov 1998 09:21:24 -0800 From: "Save Ward Valley" Subj: Chumash Site Found UUCP email The following article came from the local mainstream newspaper. These types of findings are nothing new to the people of the Coastal Band of the Chumash Nation. The Chumash people have inhabited this area from time immemorial. The coastal cities of Pismo Beach, Shell Beach, Oceano, Grover City, Avila Beach, many others are built on top of sites like the one mentioned below. Unocal built their oil storage tanks on top of a major Chumash city on the hill overlooking Avila Beach. A "grand" hotel sits upon a village site and, most likely, a burial site. Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant was built in an area once inhabited by the Chumash. Please send your prayers up that the artifacts and remains found at this site at properly taken care of. For Environmental Justice, Molly Chumash tribe, developers at odds over archaeological treasure trove Teresa Mariani -Telegram-Tribune Pismo Beach--A vacant lot at the heart of a dispute between developers and the local Chumash Indian tribe has turned out to be a near gold mine of ancient artifacts. Local Chumash representatives, the city of Pismo Beach, and developers Gary Grossman and Karl Stahl -- a former city councilman ousted in a recall election in 1996 -- are still wrangling over how to proceed at the lot. Grossman and Stahl want to build condominiums on about a third of an acre located at the corner of Price and Pomeroy streets. The disagreement was enough to bring a representative of the state Native American Heritage Commission to Pismo Beach on Monday to meet with the city, the developers, the Chumash -- and everyone's attorneys. Both Heritage Commission representative Gail McNulty and Chumash attorney Tarren Collins said this week that the Monday meeting ended with an agreement. The agreement says the city of Pismo Beach will hire another archaeologist to review archaeologist Clay Singer's plans for the site, and that an environmental law specialist will also review archaeological plans for the site. Cambria archaeologist Clay Singer -- hired by the developers -- has found evidence that the lot was the site of a major annual spring campsite for the Chumash as far back as 5,000 years ago. "It was a fishing village," said Singer. The Chumash occupied the site from about February through May every year, hunting, clamming, and fishing, Singer believes. The village was populated heavily about 5,000 years ago; then fell out of use, and was reoccupied around 3,000 years ago, Singer said. "What's important about the site is that it's the last of its kind" in Pismo Beach, Singer said. "There hasn't been anything ( found ) like it in the past 40 years." Thousands of years ago, as many as 60 people in several families lived there during the spring season for decades -- or more -- at a stretch. Singer said he hasn't discovered yet why the spring village fell out of use for some 2,000 years between occupations. But the lot has yielded plenty of things to study. "There are some fine tools there; some really unusual stuff," Singer said. The finds include rocks blackened from use in cooking, stone tools and knives, grinding stones, and a wealth of shells and marine and mammal bones that show what the villagers were catching and eating. Developers hope to donate the Chumash artifacts to a museum, or preserve them somehow in a display at the site. Human bones, believed to date from the Chumash village occupations, have also been found. Singer believes they may be part of a Chumash burial ground located mostly uphill from the site, "underneath Price Street." Developers Stahl and Grossman want to put 24 condominiums on the lot. The project was approved in 1990 -- four years before Stahl was elected to the City Council. Grossman and Stahl -- who ran unsuccessfully for council again this year -- sought building permits in April. They broke ground on the condominium project in October. But the city of Pismo Beach issued a month-long stop-work order after Chumash representatives complained almost immediately that the developers had no archaeology plan. The Chumash charged that the city neglected to require Stahl and Grossman to hire an archaeologist and come up with a plan to handle Chumash artifacts at the site. The city's chief planner, Carolyn Johnson, said the city did require Grossman and Stahl to hire an archaeologist, but the developers failed to do so. Grossman and Stahl contend the city didn't originally require the archaeologist or the archaeological plan as part of their building permits, but they stopped and hired one as soon as construction turned up what appeared to be human bones -- Chumash remains -- there. The conflict turned into a shouting match last week, when the tractors got going again after Pismo Beach lifted the stop-work order after Grossman and Stahl brought in Singer. Chumash representatives want construction halted for more archaeological work on the site -- a goal they have temporarily achieved. Grossman wants to continue working under the supervision of Singer. While the tribe was happy with the agreement to hire another archaeologist and environmental law specialist, members still don't trust Stahl and Grossman or Singer, Collins said. "They feel he ( Singer ) has a history of merely doing what the developer wants," Collins said. If Chumash members feel the site is being mishandled, they will sue, Collins said. "We are prepared to seek an injunction," she stressed. Singer said he realizes some of the Chumash in the county aren't happy with him. But, he said, "I know what I have to do. I have to document what's going on" at the site. Grossman, meanwhile, is still chalking the flap up to Chumash politics and poor communication all around. "A lot of people don't understand what we're doing, so we're going to provide everyone with explicit details on what we're doing," during each phase of construction, he said. "I'm trying to be really cooperative." While the Chumash, the developers, and the city negotiate what to do next at the lot, Singer and his workers are looking for more Chumash evidence -- and the remains of a third occupation, which began in 1860. "That," Singer said, "was us." Save Ward Valley 107 F Street Needles, CA 92363 ph. 760/326-6267 fax 760/326-6268 www.shundahai.org/SWVAction.html http://earthrunner.com/savewardvalley www.ctaz.com/~swv1 http://banwaste.envirolink.org www.alphacdc.com/ien/wardvly4.html www.greenaction.org --------- "RE: Passamaquoddy "Band" Makes Land Claim" --------- Date: Tue, 10 Nov 1998 01:50:30 -0800 From: SISIS@envirolink.org (S.I.S.I.S.) Subj: Passamaquoddy "Band" makes Land Claim :-:-:-:-:-:-:-Settlers In Support of Indigenous Sovereignty-:-:-:-:-:-:-: LAND CLAIM TALKS CLOSER The Daily Gleaner, Oct. 23, 1998, by Sandy Morgan [S.I.S.I.S. note: The following mainstream news article may contain biased or distorted information and may be missing pertinent facts and/or context. It is provided for reference only.] St. Andrews, New Brunswick - Passamaquoddy natives have moved a step closer to making a land claim for approximately 30 hectares of land in the quiet resort town of St. Andrews. The newly formed Schoodic Passamaquoddy Indian Band met with representatives of the federal and provincial governments this week to discuss the official process of making a land claim in Canada. This is the first such meeting. The band, which has a majority of members living across the border in Maine, is not recognized as a legitimate band in Canada. "It's why we formed the band here," said Hugh Akagi, who was elected as chief. "According to (Canada's) Indian Act, we did not exist." They decided to play by the government's rules even though the more than 40 members who live on the Canadian side of the border believe they should be recognized because they have always had ties with land at Indian Point in St. Andrews. Akagi confirmed the band has applied to the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development for official recognition. "Just by having this meeting, we are considering it a formal reply to our application," he added. Until now, the band has made its appeal for land ownership to the Town of St. Andrews to no avail. Both the current council and the one preceding it argued the town did not have jurisdiction to grant any land to the natives. Akagi and his band members took that refusal of responsibility as a sign of disrespect. "The meeting (Wednesday) felt very good. It was the first time we have stepped into a room in St. Andrews and got that kind of respect," he said. "We didn't get that at town hall." Indian and Northern Affairs representative Mark Davis said the meeting has officially opened the communications lines with the Passamaquoddy people. :-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is distributed without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for non-profit research and educational purposes only. :-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-: S.I.S.I.S. Settlers In Support of Indigenous Sovereignty P.O. Box 8673, Victoria, "B.C." "Canada" V8X 3S2 EMAIL: SISIS@envirolink.org WWW: http://kafka.uvic.ca/~vipirg/SISIS/SISmain.html --------- "RE: Gustafsen Coverup Continues" --------- Date: Mon, 16 Nov 1998 02:55:38 -0800 From: SISIS@envirolink.org (S.I.S.I.S.) Subj: Gustafsen Coverup Continues: BC Premier tells CUPE NO INQUIRY :-:-:-:-:-:-:-Settlers In Support of Indigenous Sovereignty-:-:-:-:-:-:-: Gustafsen Coverup Continues: BC Premier tells CUPE NO INQUIRY BC's NDP Premier Glen Clark is mounting a massive PR campaign to promote a positive image of his government respecting Aboriginal rights as supposedly evidenced by the Nisga'a trick-or-treaty. Behind the scenes the NDP machine is still desperately trying to suppress a growing awareness of outrageous actions taken by the state in the summer of 1995 against Traditionalist Shuswap defending sacred Sundance grounds at Ts'peten, near Gustafsen Lake. See The following letter is in response to the Canadian Union of Public Employees' (CUPE) endorsement of a resolution from the Assembly of First Nations calling for a public inquiry into "all aspects of the Gustafsen Lake matter." Clark's "one law for all" dissemblings and irrelevant platitudes on not interfering in judicial decision making - clearly don't deal with the issue. The struggle continues. Please add your voice to the demand for a full and open public inquiry into this government's attack upon the Gustafsen Lake Sundance camp. The truth must prevail. To support http://kafka.uvic.ca/~vipirg/SISIS/GustLake/support.html :-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-: BRITISH COLUMBIA OFFICE OF THE PREMIER NOVEMBER 2, 1998 President CUPE Local 50 Canadian Union of Public Employees 302 - 2750 Quadra St. Victoria British Columbia Thank you for your letter of August 26, 1998, requesting a public inquiry into the events at Gustafsen Lake. I apologize for the delay in my response. As you know, the police are responsible for keeping the peace in British Columbia and for ensuring the public's safety. When incidents at protest sites involve violence, serious threats of violence or property damage, police act to investigate Criminal Code of Canada violations. The Criminal Code applies to everyone in British Columbia. Those charged with Criminal Code violations as a result of incidents at Gustafsen Lake have been before the Courts. As Premier, I cannot interfere in any particular judicial decision. In Canada, the judiciary function is a separate body and Court rulings are not subject to review by any level of Government. The events at Gustafsen Lake have been dealt with appropriately by our criminal justice system. The Province has no intention of reviewing this matter further through a public inquiry. I appreciate your taking the time to express your views. Sincerely, Glen Clark Premier :-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-: MR. PREMIER : WE DEMAND A PUBLIC INQUIRY INTO THE ACTIONS OF YOUR GOVERNMENT AT GUSTAFSEN LAKE! EMAIL - premier@gov.bc.ca :-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-: S.I.S.I.S. Settlers In Support of Indigenous Sovereignty P.O. Box 8673, Victoria, "B.C." "Canada" V8X 3S2 EMAIL: SISIS@envirolink.org WWW: http://kafka.uvic.ca/~vipirg/SISIS/SISmain.html --------- "RE: Lower Churchill" --------- Date: Fri, 13 Nov 1998 17:14:23 -0400 From: Larry Innes Subj: News: Lower Churchill Mailing List: Innu People Forum list NTV TV Evening News Nov/12/98 at 6 PM INNU NATION IS STILL NOT READY TO GIVE ANY APPROVAL TO THE CHURCHILL RIVER HYDRO PROJECT. FRED HUTTON: The Innu Nation is still not ready to give any approval to the Churchill River Hydro projects Newfoundland proposes with Quebec. But they say that the Government carrying out archaeological studies this year is an important first step. Premier Brian Tobin and Innu Nation Vice President Daniel Ashini held a news conference this afternoon to comment on what's happening. Here's NTV's Jim Thoms with an update. JIM THOMS: It's a far cry from what happened in Churchill Falls last March 9th when Newfoundland and Quebec tried to announce details of their proposed hydro project. The Innu were dead set against it. UNIDENTIFIED: (Inaudible). JIM THOMS: Compare that to the scene this afternoon when Daniel Ashini and Premier Tobin arrived for their news conference, not that they were any nearer an agreement on the proposed projects. DANIEL ASHINI: We are not here to support the project, we need a lot more information about its environmental impacts and whether or not there are any potential benefits for the Innu if the project proceeds. We need this information before we make any decision to bless or condemn the project. JIM THOMS: The Innu Vice President did say that the archaeological study carried out this year to be continued next year is a good start, a new beginning, though there are still a lot of issues to be resolved. Archaeologist Roy Skanes disclosed that the study uncovered two long lost trading posts plus trapper tilts and Innu campsites. ROY SKANES: It's helping people understand that my homeland is a place that has provided a livelihood for countless generations. JIM THOMS: He says, however, that the Innu are still far from giving the green light to further hydro development ROY SKANES: For one, I think there are a lot of issues outstanding for the Innu. There's the environmental research base line data collection has been ongoing, there's the outstanding issue of the Upper Churchill, the negotiations, which are separate from the studies, will have to be discussed between ourselves and the negotiating team for the Provincial Government. BRIAN TOBIN: I think what Mr. Ashini is saying is perfectly reasonable. There is a very big, broad area of negotiation and discussion which needs to occur between the Innu Nation and the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador and for that matter the Innu people and the Government of Quebec and it is far to early for me, or for anybody, to expect the Innu Nation and Mr. Ashini to say that they know about the project to be satisfied about either its negative impacts or its positive impacts on the community and that information is required first before decisions are made. JIM THOMS: Jim Thoms, NTV News, St. John's. --------- "RE: Churchill Archaeology" --------- Date: Fri, 13 Nov 1998 17:12:13 -0400 From: Larry Innes Subj: News: Churchill Archaeology Mailing List: Innu People Forum list For Friday, November 13, 1998 Dig unearths exciting finds near Labrador project 11/13/98 By BERNIE BENNETT The Telegram Premier Brian Tobin and Innu leader Daniel Ashini announced the discovery of several exciting findings during this year's archaeological study regarding the Churchill River power project, but both were careful Thursday not to step beyond that on other matters concerning the development. The study uncovered the locations of two long-lost trading posts, 20 pre-contact sites dating back 2000-3000 years and 65 trapper tilts and Innu campsites. 'We decided to move quickly on the archaeological work well in advance of the environmental assessment process so that we could do a thorough job of identifying and protecting historic resources,' said Tobin at a news conference with Ashini. He said that approach is already proving to be worthwhile as many sites are being identified which contribute greatly to knowledge of the history of Labrador. Tobin said a full-scale archaeological program will continue next year. The project has involved the Innu Nation and Innu Economic Development Enterprises Ltd. (EID) at every stage,' said Tobin. He said it involved the Innu in the design of the research, it trained Innu people in archaeological methods and prepared them for more work in the area in future. 'In fact, Innu researchers played an important role in some of the most important finds, such as the Maritime Archaic discovery near Mud Lake.' Ashini said archaeologists have been looking for sites in the Churchill Valley for some time and they are excited about the results of this year's study. 'Many sites were found that prove that the Innu people and our ancestors lived in the Churchill Valley and other parts of Labrador over many thousands of years,' said Ashini. He said they now know from the research that the earliest known occupation in the valley region dates back 4,000 years. 'The Maritime Archaic site at Mud Lake is a great discovery, as are the two latest discoveries, Hudson Bay Company trading posts at Sandy Banks and Winokapau Lake,' said Ashini. He said it's great to see that archaeological evidence supports a lot of what is recorded in the oral tradition of the Innu people concerning their history in central Labrador. But Ashini said they are not yet prepared to endorse the hydro project development, but they are involved because they first want to find out what impact the development will have on their land and their people. 'We haven't had a good experience with hydro development in the past when there was no thought given to the Innu people,' said Ashini. He said Innu burial sites and historical sites are still being washed away by the Smallwood Reservoir which flooded their lands for the Upper Churchill Hydro development. 'We have to ensure these things are not repeated and that things are done better this time around,' said Ashini. 'People have to understand our home is not just a big, empty wasteland.' He said the Innu are still very far from either blessing or condemning the project, but based on the progress made this summer and fall they are prepared to continue. 'There are many issues to be settled yet.' Tobin agreed with Ashini in saying they have to get it right this time, but he said the approach is much different now than in the 1960s during the Upper Churchill development. The premier felt Ashini was being reasonable in his comments and agreed there is a very big and broad area of discussions to come yet, and a lot of information is required before decisions are made. Tobin said they are making good progress with Quebec and he hopes to sign a memorandum of understanding on the development before the end of this year, or early in the new year. He said he didn't want to elaborate while a Quebec election was on. Archaeologist Roy Skanes of Jacques Whitford Environment Ltd. of St. John's, a partner with IED in the historic resources study, said they are excited about the finds because there is not much known about the early fur trade in Labrador. He said that with more work the sites can tell a great deal about the history of both the Innu and European land use on the Churchill River. Larry Innes Visit the Innu Nation WWW site: Environmental Advisor http://www.innu.ca Innu Nation P.O. Box 119, Sheshatshiu, Labrador, Canada A0P 1M0 phone: (709) 497-8398 email: innuenv@web.net fax: (709) 497-8396 ------> PGP Public Key available on ldap://certserver.pgp.com --------- "RE: First Chiapas/Now Guerrero" --------- Date: Fri, 13 Nov 1998 12:16:18 -0500 From: Carol Subj: MEXICO: FIRST CHIAPAS, NOW GUERRERO UUCP email A note: There is a new film out, "A Place Called Chiapas," made by Canadian Nettie Wild. It's been getting some favorable publicity, but it's a seriously flawed effort that serves primarily to trivialize the Zapatista struggle and commits some serious errors of judgment, emphasis, and fact. It misses by a mile a number of important opportunities to explain what's been happening to an interested if uninformed public, and it takes a largely patronizing approach to the indigenous peoples (referred to as "uneducated" - by what or whose measure?) The most telling scene comes toward the end of the film, when Ms. Wild is interviewing Marcos. He observes drily, "You don't seem to have learned very much [words to that effect]. How long have you been here?" [Wild & Co. had been in Chiapas 4 months.] During the Q & A after the showing, Wild observed that the reason Chiapas doesn't get more attention in the media is that "the body count isn't high enough" - a fair measure of her desperate naivete and/or ignorance (arrogance?). CL ________________________________________________ A - I N F O S N E W S S E R V I C E http://www.ainfos.ca/ ________________________________________________ LE MONDE DIPLOMATIQUE - November 1998 FIRST CHIAPAS, NOW GUERRERO Mexico's new guerrillas Rather than implement the San Andres accords signed on 16 February 1996 with the Zapatista National Liberation Army, President Ernesto Zedillo chose to renege on his undertakings, form death squads and militarise Chiapas. This anti-insurgency strategy has caused the death of over 100 people in two years. He has followed the same policy in other states in the Mexican south where poverty and repression are making people more radical - in particular Guerrero. by our special correspondent MAURICE LEMOINE As the road wends its way through the massive Sierra Madre del Sur, the faces of the people change until they are purely Indian. From the state capital, Chilpancingo (1), we pass through five hours of forest, rock, giant cacti and poor fields before sighting Tlapa de Comonfort, the administrative centre of the part of Guerrero aptly known as La Montana (the mountain). Apart from the market the peasants go to at the week-end, there is no industry, no paid employment. Nothing. Reinforcing rods sprout from the many buildings under way which get finished as they get orders from "on high". Twenty-two year old Benito says he's planning to follow his four cousins to the United States. But there is one new activity that has recently brought life to the town: a barracks with 600 soldiers. People lower their voices to tell you the alleged reason, a murky story of armed bands. "It started in Chiapas," Juan Basurto confides, "but they're more political there. Marcos is known the world over. But here it's another group and they're less well known." Benito has read in the papers about this Popular Revolutionary Army (EPR) operating in the Guerrero scrublands. He stresses it's through the papers. Being active in the Union of Indigenous Montana Communities (UCIM), he has got his own ideas about them. "They're nothing to do with us", he is careful to explain, "but we respect them. They're working for society just as we are, but by different means." Poverty, root of all evil Tlapa lies at the heart of La Montana, the hilliest part of the state, 600 to 3,000 metres above sea level. It is very poor. Its maize, beans, rice and other products don't bring in anything. Where it is very cold, nor does the milpa (2). Two straw hats that took a day to make fetch one peso (3). They will be sold on for 17 pesos each by the acaparadores (itinerant traders). La Montana is populated by Indians -- Nahuas, Mixteques, Tlapaneques - who also bring in nothing. They have their traditions, they sow and reap their meagre crops and sell them cheap. Wood is something they literally give away. And they have no political leanings. Apart from his work in the UCIM, Benito is active in the opposition with Dr Cuauhtemoc Cardenas' Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD). Passionate about his native ancestry (he is of mixed race) and sporting a large tee-shirt blazoned with the words Hard Rock Cafe' and a huge Mickey Mouse, he carries his UCIM leaflets everywhere and dreams of San Francisco or Washington. "We believe class consciousness comes from knowing what class you belong to and who your enemies are (the state, the bourgeoisie, imperialism)". He respectfully uncovers his head outside the imposing church that dominates Chalpatlahua, considering it a place of miracles. Benito is the real Guerrero. Tototepec is not one of the many completely cut off caserios (hamlets), but it is still extremely poor. Only supporters of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), which has been in power for as long as anyone can remember, sometimes get some help - rice, beans or sugar - generally in the run up to elections. They are short of everything. "There's water," says Primo Alvarez, a mixed-race bilingual teacher, "and if we had a pump everyone would benefit. There's timber, but no means to exploit it. We could make lime, the stone's the right kind, but we haven't got the means. " The PRD militants, the minority in this village held by the PRI, are fighting with the authorities to get fertilizer. On 1 June the only response was a visit from the judiciales (the judicial police) and the army. Doors were kicked in, houses ransacked, cooking utensils smashed, grain scattered to the winds. A young woman was raped in front of her husband. "They accused me of being an EPR leader", sighs Primo Alvarez. As well as being head of the local school, which has five other teachers, and taking a class of 45 himself, he also has to look after his field; his monthly salary of 1,600 pesos ($200) is not enough to live on. "How could I find the time to join an armed group?" Pointing dispiritedly at his shack, he goes on, "Instead of sending the army in, they should build schools and canteens, and give us allowances, clothes and shoes for the children and decent housing for the teachers." Then, coming back to this famous EPR that is causing them so much grief, he explains "We're fighting by democratic means. We've never taken up arms. But we respect their struggle and their way of thinking because they're also voicing the demands of the population." It was on 13 July when the army appeared in Cochoapa al Grande, a remote outback up above the clouds. They went from house to house, searching through everything. People were beaten up. Not everyone, just the PRD "subversives". Like everywhere else, they regularly set up road blocks where everybody gets harassed and questioned. In this divided community, the comisario (4) is a PRD member. Since his election, electricity has appeared. Before him, the PRI comisario had funding for a bridge. There's still no bridge. In this community, the rifts run deep. The "official" party also knows how to get its message across. At five p. m. dozens of peasants head in single file for the caserio, their tools on their shoulders. A government programme is paying them to re-forest the eroded hillsides. All without exception are members of the PRI. No-one marked out as an opposition supporter got access to this work. "People are tired," one of the locals puts it warily. "There's a story about a guerrilla unit from the old days led by Lucio Cabanas. It'll happen again. There'll end up being a war or thing." A young man with him is, unusually, much more direct. Gazing at the mountain peaks all round, he says "It's a good thing 'they' are there because now, if we have a problem, they'll come and help us." Pleasant though he is, he won't tell us his name. People have died for less. Like Chiapas and Oaxaca, its neighbours in misfortune, Guerrero is one of Mexico's poorest states. In the 1960s, which began with the Chilpancingo massacre (30 December 1960), the demands of the copra and coffee growers, teachers and students were met with violent repression. In 1963 a schoolmaster, Genaro Va'squez, took up arms at the head of the National Civic Revolutionary Association (ACNR). Following the massacre of copra producers on 20 August 1967 in Acapulco, another teacher, Lucio Caban as, founded the Party of the Poor (PDLP). Armed action grew in the 1970s, culminating on 29 May 1974 with the abduction of Ruben Figueroa (senior), a PRI candidate for the post of state governor known for his gangster methods (5). The manhunt began and Lucio Cabanas died in an ambush the following December. The party was smashed and its surviving members went underground. Don't rely on others The army conducted a fierce cleaning-up operation in the region, leaving 100 dead and over 300 disappeared. "In those days," a village elder recalls, "human rights didn't exist." But slowly, people have raised their heads again. A union of ejidos (6) was formed on the Costa Grande (7) south of La Montana. "We had delegates in all communities," Hilario Acosta recalls. "The government invited all the delegates, gave them food, money and women, and asked them to join the National Peasants' Confederation [CNC - an official union]. The day the new board was elected, they all voted for the CNC." Those who would not be bribed started again, forming a coalition of ejidos and starting to work on marketing coffee. "But the PRI infiltrated it and the coalition split." Still, it was not the time for throwing in the towel. After the fraudulent election of Carlos Salinas de Gortari as president in 1988, the peasants told the losing candidate Cuauhtemoc Cardenas - later to found and lead the PRD - that they would "give their lives to defend the vote" - arms in hand. His decision to do it "the legal way" caused much frustration. Though they have remaining loyal to the PRD, whose anti- establishment influence is growing considerably in Guerrero, the peasants have learned their lesson: to rely first and foremost on themselves. January 1994 saw the birth of the Sierra del Sur Peasants' Organisation (OCSS), the most powerful of the many movements that have now turned Guerrero into a seething cauldron. After several months' gestation, the OCSS - which brings together mestizos and indigenous people without distinction - surfaced several days after the uprising of a mysterious army in neighbouring Chiapas. Governor Figueroa set out to destroy the OCSS which stubbornly refused to be corrupted. They were all accused of maintaining links with the Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN). There followed assassinations, arrests and reprisals. It was to protest at the disappearance of one of their number, Gilberto Romero, that over 100 members of the OCSS set off for Atoyac de Alvarez by lorry on 27 June 1995. The security forces stopped the convoy at the village of Aguas Blancas. They made some of these unarmed civilians get down from the trucks and opened fire. Marino Sanchez recalls: "I was lying on the ground with bullets flying all round me and we were totally surrounded by police. I saw them putting injured comrades out of their misery." It was a nightmare - 17 peasants killed and over 20 wounded. A year later, none of the instigators of the massacre had been brought to justice. The only thing this popular mobilisation achieved was the resignation of Governor Ruben Figueroa (junior). On the anniversary of the massacre, during a commemoration ceremony at the site attended by 6,000 people, a hundred or so armed men and women appeared, their faces masked by the inevitable balaclava. The Popular Revolutionary Army had shown itself in public for the first time. "After the initial surprise," a witness recalls with a smile, "you could see the delight on people's faces. Alot of them clapped. A priest went over and kissed them, saying 'At last!'" A communique' was read out, the Aguas Blancas Manifesto, not exactly in the lyrical prose of Subcommandante Marcos: "We want a democratic people's republic and we call for people's courts to try the enemies of the people." Politics by other means Terrorists! The Zedillo government, which trapped the Zapatistas in talks that were just window-dressing, tried to gain credence for the idea that there were good guerrillas, the EZLN, with a social base, and bad ones, the EPR, without one. It was assisted, perhaps not consciously to begin with, by Subcommandante Marcos who made some icy remarks. The "newcomers" would have to "earn their legitimacy". Commandante Jose' Arturo sent a biting reply: "Whose pardon are we supposed to ask for not letting the government continue to murder people? And for our armed uprising? The government's, perhaps? (8)". He concluded "Poetry cannot be the continuation of politics by other means." Though relations are not cordial, they have become less tense. Without glossing over the differences, the EPR refers to the EZLN with respect. But it does not hide the fact that its aim is to take power and it is prepared to combine civilian and military means to do it. The EPR had been in existence for many years. If it meets with little enthusiasm, it is because of the dominant role within it of the clandestine Workers' Revolutionary Party Union of the People-Party of the Poor (Procup-PDLP). Born in the 1960s, this very secretive Maoist-oriented organisation "has more than a bad reputation", in the words of Enrique Avila in Mexico City, one of the leaders of the Zapatista National Liberation Front (FZLN) formed in civilian society at the instigation of Subcommandante Marcos. "Over the last 20 years it has killed several compan eros belonging to what it calls the reformist left." Nor has the Procup had much hesitation in eliminating dissidents. Over the years, Procup has helped the Party of the Poor to reorganise and regain a foothold in Guerrero. It controls 14 revolutionary organisations (9) which have moved closer together though they continue to act independently. The Zapatista uprising and the hope it inspired accelerated its unification and on 1 May 1994 this disparate group formed into a single front, the EPR. On 18 May 1996 it set up a single political/military structure with one army. On 30 August 1996 the EPR went on the offensive in seven of the country's states, in particular in its fiefs of Guerrero and Oaxaca (it is also present in Veracruz and Chiapas). At the end of October, there was a renewed campaign killing about ten members of the security forces. Sporadic actions followed. No frontal assaults, just limited attacks. In early 1998, a guerrilla spokesman, "Manuel", admitted that they were just at a stage of self-defence. The tone is less that of the 1970s. "We've been compared to the Shining Path... We're not provocateurs. We've been working for 20 years with people who are dying of hunger. Aguas Blancas accelerated the process. The social base asked what could be done and we answered the call. Socialism isn't on the agenda and armed struggle can't bring about change on its own. All forms of democratic, peaceful and parliamentary struggle are necessary. But, given the situation, we also need armed pressure." One question remains. At present, with nothing about internal dissent leaking out, does Manuel still belong to the EPR or is he already in the Insurgent People's Revolutionary Army (ERPI)? It was the events of Al Charco (Costa Chica) that brought the ERPI's existence to light. In Acteal (10) and Aguas Blancas it was the same sad story. At dawn on 7 June 1998 the army attacked a school where several dozen locals were gathered and, after a "confrontation" lasting six hours, killed 11 guerrillas without any army losses. Controversy broke out when the survivors and prisoners protested that there had been no guerrillas, no fighting and that the victims (most of them inhabitants of the village) had been killed in cold blood. The second part of the explanation proved to be true. But the first was called into question after the army was ambushed in the Tierra Caliente region on 22 June and a patrol of judiciales on the Chilapa-Tlapa road (La Montana) on 4 July. "Yes, we were at a meeting with some peasants in Al Charco. The compas (11) didn't take the necessary security measures and we were taken by surprise." This previously unknown group claimed this was their response. Sixty per cent of EPR commandos are deployed in Guerrero. The ERPI was born on 8 January 1998 of a split between fighting units in Guerrero and the leadership of the Popular Democratic Revolutionary Party (PDPR), a clandestine political arm, in the state. Commandantes Antonio and Santiago explained that "In August many communities were demanding a response to aggression. The EPR failed to respond, instead organising operations that failed to meet the expectations of the people but were linked more to economic events within the country. We would suggest responses to repression but we never got EPR authorisation to go ahead." Future operations will be determined by the need to respond to acts of violence by the authorities. "This army used to belong to a party, but we're giving it back to the people. You decide what we must do. We'll only act where the people decide." Words which could have come from the Zapatistas, even though there are still no links with them (12). But the ERPI admits that the EZLN has made major contributions to democracy with the slogan Command and Obey. In this sense, there has been a rapprochement - unilateral up until now. Of the 580 PRD activists assassinated over the last few years, 207 (35%) were in Guerrero. Accused of being an EPR leader, which he strongly denies, former PRD deputy Bernardo Ranferi was forced to seek political asylum in France. Since 1996 a "black list" has been circulating of 106 names drawn up by the paramilitary Confidential 08 group linking the "future targets" to the armed struggle. OCSS leader Norma Mesino claims that 34 of her organisation's activists have been killed on the Costa Grande since 1995. Last July one of their leaders, Eusebio Va'squez, was assassinated. Tepetixtla police chief Jose' Vargas had been threatening him for a long time, but one of their own men, Erasto Hurtado, was arrested and accused of the murder. The aim was to paint the OCSS as a violent organisation, and also to split it. Fifty-two members of the Broad Construction Front of the National Liberation Movement (FAC-MLN), a grouping of 300 trade unions, parties and organisations formed in Acapulco and particularly active in Guerrero, are in prison on a wide variety of charges. As a result, despite government pressure, the FAC-MLN has refused expressly to condemn the armed struggle. The state's militarisation is increasing apace and, as in Chiapas, the paramilitaries leave a trail of blood in their wake. A dusty village on a hilltop in the heart of La Montana. Sitting round a table with a beer, Indian militants of the PRD, teachers, are contemplating the forthcoming elections. In all probability, the PRD will take the post of governor in Guerrero in February 1999 and the presidency of the republic in the year 2000 with the engineer, Cuauhtemoc Cardenas. The talk is both determined -- "We continue to believe in change by democratic means" - and disillusioned. "People don't believe the democratic struggle will succeed." While the government, acting under pressure from the EZLN, the PRD and international opinion, has opened up politically, going so far as to concede Mr Cardenas' victory as mayor of Mexico City in July 1997 and the PRI's loss of its absolute majority in Congress, everyone knows that nothing has changed in the feudal countryside where the local big shots hold sway. Chilpancingo and Acapulco swung into the PRD camp in the 6 July 1997 local elections, it is true, but the rural areas are still controlled by the PRI. For several months now, it has been combing the countryside, buying off people's consciences, distributing gifts, clothing, maize and fertilizer. "These people are so poor, if you give them a meal, a few beans, they'll follow you wherever you want, like a flock of sheep." What is more, Ruben Figueroa, the governor who was forced to resign after the Aguas Blancas murders, has announced his return to politics to prevent an opposition victory in the state by whatever means. But the PRD seems unable to inspire even its own supporters. "Our problems won't be solved just by a change of person," they are saying in Tlapa. "The PRD isn't the answer". Then they qualify that by continuing "But by helping to get things opened up it at least lets us take a step forward." In the stifling heat of Tepetixtla, they go further. "It won't make much difference whether the PRI or the PRD wins. I would prefer the victor to be the people." The local PRD is undeniably radical. In fact, its activists are not "PRD activists" but peasant or grassroots organisations like the OCSS or FAC-MLN, sympathising more or less openly with the guerrillas and using the party to gain influence and avoid repression. While these votes are needed at national level and cannot therefore be disowned, they are not keen on this leftward turn which risks the social- democratic party losing the support of the political centre on which its hopes are based. This radical base has not finished creating problems, especially if Mr Cardenas wins in 2000. In his desire to take the state, he has failed to strongly condemn neo-liberalism, wanting only to trim its claws, and is no longer against the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which he just wants to revise. Local practices often give rise to talk of a PRI Mark Two. For the 1999 elections, the PRD has no less than seven people seeking to stand for the post of governor of Guerrero, the two main ones, Felix Salgado and Xavier Olea, being defectors from the PRI. Clearly, this was not enough. On 21 August, the PRD state committee chairman, Octaviano Santiago, announced that his party had opened talks with some of the PRI's nine aspiring candidates to get them to leave their party and take part in the primaries to select the PRD candidate (13). At all events, "For the next elections we are completely behind the PRD, " OCSS leader Norma Mesino affirms. "Without cherishing any illusions, we believe we could have a more positive relationship with it and a response to some of our demands." If only an end to repression. In the state's poorest township, Metlatono'c, the PRD's Felipe Ortiz warns "The government has two options: to respect the wishes of the people or make them even more radical. People's minds are made up. Guerrero is a powder keg that could explode at any moment." For its part, the ERPI has already shown its colours: it is in a phase of "silently building up its forces" to help in an insurrection. "We think it is necessary to prepare because there may, under certain circumstances, be triggers that cause the masses to rise up." A small Central America Chiapas, Guerrero, Oaxaca, Veracruz - the whole of the south of Mexico is hesitating between violence and civil peace. No-one here will wager on what will happen if Mr Cardenas loses the 2000 presidential election - even if there are no irregularities. If anything stupid happens before then, like electoral fraud in Guerrero or military intervention in Chiapas, everything could change. "If the army attacks the EZLN," the EPR (or ERPI)'s "Manuel" reported earlier this year, "Marcos has said he doesn't want a saviour. But we can't stand idly by. We would move from self- defence to a declaration of war." A small Central America in the space of Alena! With all the makings not of a conventional conflict between army and guerrillas but - with all the factors present in the region, especially the many peasant communities that patronage has attached to the PRI - a localised civil war. The guerrillas have no future as such in a Mexico where the electoral option now exists and where the PRD is feeding reformist aspirations. But they will have a bright future and lasting legitimacy if social and political democracy fail to take root in the poorest states. Rather than reducing the danger, the authorities are increasing it, simply pressing on a lever. As he left the UCIM office in Tlapa, Benito met a policeman. The man stopped him, put his hand on his arm, looked him coldly in the eye and simply said: "I know who you are. And I know what you're doing." Translated by Malcolm Greenwood (1) Mexico is made up of 31 states and a federal district. In this article, "state" means the state of Guerrero and not Mexico itself. (2) Maize field. (3) $1 .1 peso (August 1998). (4) Equivalent of a mayor in hamlets. (5) See Guerre sociale au Guerrero, "Opuscules et pamphlets", vol. I and II, Syllepse, Paris, 1997. (6) Farming community that grew out of the Mexican revolution. (7) Guerrero has five regions: Montana, Centro, Tierra Caliente, Costa Chica and Costa Grande. (8) On 16 January 1994, President Zedillo announced he was going to present to Congress a proposal for an amnesty for those involved in the Zapatista insurrection. On 18 January, in a text that has become famous, Subcommandante Marcos refused, replying: "What have we to be pardoned for?". See Subcommandante Marcos, Ya basta!, Dagorno, Paris, 1994. (9) National Liberation Armed Forces (FALN), People's Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARP), Comando Francisco Villa, Comando Morelos, Comandos Armados Mexicanos, Genaro Vasquez Brigade, Vicente Guerrero Brigade, Workers' Self-defence Brigade, 18 May Brigade, Peasants' Ajusticiamento Brigade, Ricardo-Flores-Magon Workers' Revolutionary Organisation, Communist Cells, Armed Organisation of the People, etc. (10) A massacre of 45 natives, allegedly Zapatistas, mostly women and children, that took place in Chiapas on 22 December 1997. (11) Diminutive of companeros (companions or comrades). (12) There are nevertheless indirect links. The EPR has been joined by EZLN dissidents who disagreed with the line taken by Subcommandante Marcos, in particular the peace talks resumed in 1995. (13) In the state of Zacatoca, the PRD took the post of governor with a PRI member, Ricardo Monreal, who changed sides at the last minute. In Puebla, it put forward a candidate, Ricardo Villa Escalera, a businessman who had long been active in the most conservative sections of the National Action Party (PAN). ALL RIGHTS RESERVED CR 1998 Le Monde diplomatique ******** The A-Infos News Service ******** COMMANDS: majordomo@tao.ca REPLIES: a-infos-d@tao.ca HELP: a-infos-org@tao.ca WWW: http://www.ainfos.ca/ INFO: http://www.ainfos.ca/org --------- "RE: Chiapas Schools Construction Update" --------- Date: Sun, 15 Nov 1998 19:50:35 -0800 (PST) From: mexicopeace@igc.org (mexicopeace@igc.org) Subj: Come to Chiapas! New Years 1999 Chiapas Schools Construction Update Nov. 15, 1998 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ I N D E X 1. New Year's '99 - Come to Chiapas! 2. Web page update: Check it out! 3. School supplies sent via Pastors for Peace 4. Acteal vigil on Sunday, Nov. 22, 1998 at 6 pm 5. "Va por Chiapas" Pera - Dec. 11, 1998, 5 pm to 9 pm 6. Letter to the "want to be students" in Chiapas 8. Study Materials for the National Consultation 9. Subscription / Unsubscription Information ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 1. Celebrate New Year's '99 in Chiapas! Help build the school at Oventic. Come to the misty mountains of southern Mexico and participate in a profound cultural exchange with Maya women and men working to win education and peace for their children! Leave Mexico City on Sunday, Dec. 27, 1998 and return on Sunday, Jan. 3, 1998. Cost from Mexico City is $450 employed; $375 unemployed/students. Fundraising options are available to lower costs. Travel options from Mexico City include bus or plane; food will be basic, accommodations rustic; the climate may be chilly and wet. However we promise that you will encounter a peoples' love that is rich; that your hearts will be warm and healthy; and that you will gain far more than you give. Participants may choose to engage in physical school construction or to participate only in sports, language, culinary, music, and friendship exchange. Letters and artwork exchanges with school children are particularly encouraged! Longer term volunteer opportunities at the secondary school at Oventic Aguascalienes II are also now available by special arrangement. Willingness to accept indigenous leadership, collective participation, and respect for Mexican and indigenous laws required. Ability to laugh and dance a plus! No other special physical, linguistic, or educational abilities required. Join us in the misty mountains of southern Mexico! Email or call for applications today! Book your flights NOW to arrive in Mexico City before Sunday, Dec. 27, 1998. DO IT NOW! (619) 232-2841 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 2. Web page update - see http://www.igc.org/mexicopeace/ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 3. School supplies sent on Pastors' for Peace Caravan On Wednesday, Nov. 11, 1998 twenty boxes of school supplies including computers, laboratory supplies, and musical instruments were loaded onto the colorfully painted bus which will travel to Chiapas and Nicaragua as a part of the Pastors for Peace caravan. We deeply appreciate those who donated supplies, attended the cultural event, our hosts at Back from Tombucktou, and especially the Pastors for Peace. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 4. Acteal vigil on Sunday, Nov. 22, 1998 from 6 pm to 7 pm. Join us once again in front of the Mexican consulate in Little Italy as we continue our monthly protest and memorial about the brutal massacre at Acteal Chiapas and of all the injustice and death visited on the indigenous communities. Share fellowship and news. Learn about the latest information from the meeting in Chiapas with the indigenous leadership and Mexican civil society. Call (619)232-2841 for information. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 5. "Va por Chiapas" Pera on Dec. 11, 1998, 5 pm to 9 pm at Whole Foods in Hillcrest, San Diego; University Ave. at 7th in Hillcrest Music and Poetry! !Food and Drink! Fun and solidarity! Participate in a traditional South American cultural evening celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights with San Diego's own Chiapas Schools Construction Teams (232-2841). Our organization sends volunteers to southern Mexico to work with the Maya people in their efforts to win human rights. Volunteers will return in December to once again work on the first autonomous indigenous junior high school in Chiapas, MEXICO. Bring you spirit, your friends, and your generous donations to support human rights for the Maya people of Chiapas. Entrance $7 to $700. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Celebra con nosotros, los Equipos de San Diego para la Construccion de Escuelas en Chiapas, el 50 aniversario de la Declaracion Universal de los Derechos Humanos en una noche cultural con una tradicional pena sudamericana. Para mayor informacion llama al 232-2841. Nuestra organizacion envia voluntarios al sur de Mexico en solidaridad con los indigenas de Chiapas en sus esfuerzos por lograr el respeto de los derechos humanos en Mexico. Mas voluntarios iran de nuevo el proximo diciembre a apoyar la primera secundaria autonoma indigena en Oventic, Chiapas, MEXICO. Trae tu animo, tus amigos y tu generosa contribucion en apoyo a los derechos humanos de los indigenas de Mexico. Admision de $7 a $700. --------------------------------------------------------- Amnesty International is collecting signatures for a pledge to support this very important United Nations declaration. Amnesty already has 3 million signatures (real and virtual) world wide, and wants 8 million (which would be a significant proportion of the world's population of around 6 billion). The UN Secretary General has already agreed to be present either in person or live by satellite to receive the pledge as a tangible statement of the people of the world's commitment to an international agenda of human rights. The most simple way to add your name to the pledge is to: Send an e-mail to Put YOUR NAME on the SUBJECT line, with the following text in the message: 'I support the rights and freedoms in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights for all people, everywhere'. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 6. Letter to the "want to be students" in Chiapas Nov. 15, 1998 San Diego, CA To the indigenous youth of Chiapas who want to be students, To the brothers and sisters of the "want to be students" of Chiapas, To the mothers and fathers of the "want to be students" of Chiapas, To the aunts and uncles of the "want to be students" of Chiapas, To the teachers of the "want to be students" of Chiapas, To the clandestine spokespersons of the "want to be students" of Chiapas Dear friends, Although the Mexican government still refuses to allow me to meet with you - or to walk at your side along the pathways of indigenous Chiapas - my heart is with you. In this moment as your dreams are once again traveling the mountain and jungle trails of southern Mexico - people of conscience around the world are with you! Several days ago in San Diego supporters of the Oventic secondary school placed twenty boxes of schools supplies on the Chiapas bound caravan of the Pastors for Peace. As the buses and trucks carrying these supplies for your new school at Oventic Aguascalientes II rumble south along the bumpy roads of Mexico, we imagine that the spokespersons you have chosen to represent you in the new discussions are also carefully traveling along the muddy trails toward Oventic and Reality . The school supplies we have sent to the secondary school at Oventic Aguascalientes II should arrive in Oventic at about the same time that the Red Cross picks up your spokespersons from that tiny spot of peace in the misty highlands. We hope and pray that the dangerous journey of your leaders will be safe and that the new paths traveled by those couragous representatives will clear the way for the "want to be students" of Chiapas to finally attend their first autonomous school at Oventic Aguascalientes II. For your belief that words and rationality are more powerful than guns - we are with you. For your conviction that education must come even to the most forgotten - we are with you. For your patience in finding translators who can help us understand a little of your knowledge - we are with you. For your insistence that there will be no surrender in the struggle to build schools for children - we are with you. I don't know when I will personally be able to return, but the Chiapas Schools Constrution Teams are following the instructions of your school board and education committee and will return to Oventic Aguascalientes II on Dec. 28, 1998. Make sure that your elementary students are studying hard; insist that their teachers are teaching well, and alert the construciton experts at Oventic that we are coming! A new day is dawning for education and peace with justice in Chiapas - and we are with you until the victory, always! Por y para los ninos, Peter Brown aka PEDRO CAFE, Director / Jkoltavanejetic ta Smeltzanel Chiapas Schools Construction Teams / Chanobjunetic ta Chiapas ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 8. Study Materials for the National Consultation on the Proposal for an Indigenous Law by the Commission of Concordance and Peace and for an End to the War of Extermination Responding to the call by the EZLN, and with the desire to be preparing ourselves for the consultation which they called for, we are presenting a summary of what are the most important issues, and those which the government has reneged on which they had already signed, and we compare them with what is in the Cocopa's legislative proposal, which is the one accepted by the zapatistas as being the one which is closest to the accords signed at the first working table in San Andres concerning Indigenous Rights and Cultures. http://spin.co.mx/~floresu/FZLN/ ___________________________________________________ ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN SPANISH IN MEXICO TRANSLATED FROM THE SPANISH BY irlandesa FOR THE FZLN AND NUEVO AMANECER PRESS NUEVO AMANECER PRESS-N.A.P.To know about us visit: http://www.nap.cuhm.mx/nap0.htm ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 9. SUB. / NO SUB. A. Para estar al corriente sobre la escuela secundaria de Oventic Aguascalientes II, con un promedio de dos a tres mensajes por mes, envianos, por favor, el siguiente mensaje a : Subscribirme a los amig@s mayas B. Para recibir informacion sobre la escuela secundaria de Oventic, Aguascalientes II, solo una vez al mes, mandanos el siguiente mensaje a : Subscribirme a mexicopeace C. Si no deseas recibir informacion sobre la secundaria en Oventic, Aguascalientes II, envianos el siguiente mensaje a ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ A. To receive updates about the junior high school at Oventic Aguascalientes II at the rate of two or three messages every month, please send the following message to mexicopeace@igc.apc.org: subscribe maya penpals B. To receive am update about the junior high school at Oventic Aguascalientes II about once a month, please send the following message to mexicopeace@igc.apc.org: subscribe mexicopeace C. If you do now wish to receive electronic messages about schools in Chiapas, please send the following message to mexicopeace@igc.apc.org: unsubscribe mexicopeace D. If you also want to receive letters and news via regular (snail) mail, please include your name, street address, city, ZIP, country, etc. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Chiapas Schools Construction Teams Chanobjunetik ta Chiapas Jkoltavanejetik ta Smeltzanel Equipos de construccion para escuelas en Chiapas Craftsmen's Hall AFL-CIO 3909 Centre Street San Diego, CA 92103 (619) 232-2841 FAX (619) 232-0500 http://www.igc.org/mexicopeace --------- "RE: We Have Risen" --------- Date: Sat, 07 Nov 1998 21:34:50 -0600 From: "Irma L. Muniz" Subj: We Have Risen Please distribute widely. The following speech was given on behalf of Ramsey Muniz at a Dia de La Raza march in San Antonio, Texas. Also present was Reies Lopez Tijerina, New Mexico Chicano activist of the 1960s, and advocate for the liberation of our land. The Land of the Risen "We of the 21st Century Have Risen" On this historic day of Mexicano liberation and remembrance, I am honored to be here experiencing Mexicano spirituality -- love, wisdom, truth, consciousness, dignity, courage, and sacrifice my beloved husband and I both acknowledge. For those of you who do not know of Ramsey, Muniz, I want to share some of his history with you. Ramsey is a man that has been involved in the liberation of our people since he was in the 8th grade. During his early years he realized that we were underrepresented in his school's student council. For that reason he ran for Student Council Vice President and searched for other candidates who would be sensitive to the needs of the majority. He not only got elected, but he filled the other council positions with candidates of his choice. In high school Ramsey was a talented football player. Corpus Christi Miller High School won the state championship during his years, and his athletic talent allowed him to attend Baylor University in Waco, Texas, and obtain a law degree from Baylor School of Law. During his years as a law student and afterwards as an attorney, Ramsey knew that the profession of an attorney was not to be his sole destiny. He embraced the plight of his people, the Mexicanos. He represented us, helped many of us, and spoke out against the injustices that we faced. His efforts upset school board elections, city council elections, and state and federal elected positions throughout the state. He made it possible, during those times, for the first Mexicano mayor to be elected in Waco, Texas. He believed then, and still believes today, that only through our own political party we would receive the kind of representation that is owed to us. In 1972 and 1974 Ramsey ran for governor of the state of Texas under our political party called the Raza Unida Party. In doing so he and the Raza Unida Party activists changed Texas politics forever. His efforts and hard work took him throughout the state of Texas and beyond. Ramsey ventured out by himself, to preach his beliefs from Texas to New Mexico, which was under the leadership of Reies Lopez Tijerina, our greatest advocate for the liberation of our land. Ramsey continued in Arizona, Colorado, Oregon, Utah, California. Today, as a result of his efforts, we have better representation than we ever had before. There are many Mexicano attorneys, judges, and congressmen. It is unfortunate to say that because of his tremendous impact and following, today Ramsey Muniz is a political prisoner incarcerated in Leavenworth, Kansas. He now spends his time researching books, particularly ancient manuscripts which reveal truths about our magnificent spiritual and cultural roots. He shares his revelations and visions with others who are incarcerated by holding study classes (cacalmecas) which help others find a greater purpose in their spiritual lives. Even though Ramsey is in prison physically, his prayers, penance, spirituality, and love are dedicated to the Mexicano hearts that congregate on this day to celebrate our culture, our history, and our past. What has no past can have no future. The Mexi-Kan world of the 21st Century must be composed of our past. We are here today not to divide, but to unite, and to heed the voices of the past and not allow our anger, passion, self-hate, ignorance and pride to cloud our focus and vision in reclaiming and honoring our sacred ancient spiritual, cultural, and indigenous identities. Isn't it amazing that after 500 years, as we face insurmountable odds and adversity, that we continue to fulfill the legacies and prophecies from our ancient sacred spirituality? It is our destiny. We who are here today will continue to profess and reclaim the right of our happiness and freedom, and the essence this sentiment within us is eternal. Throughout my travels and speaking engagements in the Southwest, I have come to witness a massive Mexicano awakening of the hearts and minds of Aztlan and our Holy Land of Mexico like never before. It is not a movement but rather an awakening of Mexi-Kan consciousness that is not dictated or controlled by the master & oppressor, nor the so-called political leaders that seek only to profit for themselves. This awakening comes like a tidal wave, from the heart of nature, which embraces strength, love, and sacrifice of the masses of our people. It is the Mexi-Kan spiritual and cultural awakening of the 21st Century. It is the Rising of the Sixth Sun, for truly we are the children of the sun. We who are here today must firmly believe that we must build our own nation (Aztlan), within a nation. We as Mexicanos have the unique intelligence that equals any other nation in the world. We of the 21st Century have the God given right as a free people to elect our own leadership and to govern ourselves as we did once before during our glorious ancient civilization. Remember that our roots and sense of humanity come from the blood of kings and queens as we once ruled all the Americas. After 500 years, we reunite to experience and celebrate the ancient sacred cultural & spiritual history of our ancestors, to share the historic days of our more recent heroes who shed their blood and sacrificed their lives. They did this so that we who are here could demonstrate that same courage, valor, and respect, and claim to all nations in declaring that we of the 21st Century have been awakened to what is God-given to us from birth - freedom, justice, and the liberation of our land. These days of remembrance also provide us a spiritual vision of Aztlan's future as prophesied in our ancient documents and symbols. We, la raza, have discovered that our ancient Nahuatl name for God is Mexi -- the Creator. We know from our ancient spiritual history that Mexi warned Ixtacmixcoatl (Ish-tak-mish-coh-ahtl), "White Cloud Serpent" the Mexicano Noah, that the flood would soon come and that he was to prepare his family and core of believers. He, Mexi, would be with them to watch over them and to see that they would live to build a new and eternal Aztlan. We know that Aztlan really means "the land of the risen." Yes, brothers and sisters, we of the 21st Century have risen! Mexi is here today watching over use to see that once more we live to build a new Aztlan for the youth and the future generations of tomorrow. Aztlan is our identity. You cannot escape from that unless you escape from yourself. You must remember that nationhood is not only a piece of land. It's in your blood. By virtue of our spiritual cultural history, we prevail with Mexi-Kan pride on this day because we are an indigenous people. We are not "aliens." Our brothers and sisters from the holy land of Mexico are not aliens. We are not agents of re-discovery. We discovered and are rightful owners of this land on which we stand. We were here first, we are home grown like the maiz that our parents and grandparents planted. We have grown through solid rock in population, within the last thirty years, as cactus grows through stone. We Mexicanos are the faithful. We are here today because we have men and women who have kept their convenant with Mexi. Some have sacrificed their lives through uncompromising commitment. Others still wait, though they have not changed in determination. For those who wait, we share the courage and strength that comes into our hearts from the spirits of the Rising of the Sixth Sun. We, the Mexi-Kans of the 21st Century, believe and understand clearly in our hearts why we are here, even if the world does not. The oppressor cannot be allowed to inherit the earth. As Mexi's people, we are liberators and our duty is to humanity and not to inhumanity. Remember that a people who have reached a spiritual, cultural, political platform, such as our ancient Mexi-Kans, would not have accepted a philosophy of life without profound and significant values of humanity. Ever since we received our name from Mexi, we were given a spiritual & cultural mission, which was to conceive a new Aztlan -- the mecca for Mexicanos in the 21st Century. This mission began thousands of years ago. One of the greatest ancient spiritual warriors, Tlacelel, was supreme council to three Aztec kings who were responsible for the spiritual and cosmic process, which was the examination and liberation of humanity - the people of the Fifth Sun. One of our more recent revolutionary heros, Emiliano Zapata, said, "This Mexicano revolution has not yet triumphed. In your hands still is the will and the power to save. But if unfortunately you do not, then the shades of Cuauhtemoc, Hidalgo, and Juarez will shudder and stir in their graves to ask, "what have you done with the blood of your brothers?" We must tell the world of the spiritual and cultural awakening of the Rising of the Sixth Sun, because many of us have been converted or otherwise taught to despise our ancestral spiritual and cultural history. By sharing our hearts we contribute to the understanding of our true selves - nuestra raza. In so doing, we inspire others to gain a greater appreciation of our people. Those who we reach will embrace noble principles and ideals, which have been passed down from the ancient peoples to our modern spiritual and cultural Mexicayoatl. Because of Mexicayoatl, Aztlan will live forever! The one great all-embracing quality that is vital for such a task is the awareness that our mission is comes only through the grace of a divine soul -- the organ of a higher destiny -- divinity. Such is Mexicayoatl. Nahuatl power, our cultura and spiritual power, is divine in origin. To go from the spiritual to the political is but one step. Global power struggle in our age of absolute politics lies in culture. You cannot have Mexicano politics without culture! The general line, strategy and tactics of a true Mexicano political party of the masses must be Nahuatlan conquest through our spirituality and culture. In conclusion, our spiritual and cultural awakening of the 21st Century means "to build the temple" for the Rising of the Sixth Sun." Building the temple is the key to understanding ourselves as a people today. We are building the temple by establishing a spiritual foundation that was prophesied by ancient legacies, signs and symbols. The building of the temple of Aztlan is not only the condition of Nahuatl culture and its fruitfulness, but a necessity. It is the struggle for universal existence, which keeps Nahuatl culture alive, and opens to it the doors of creation. We, the Mexicanos, are the creators! We are the Rising of the Sixth Sun! Yo Pedi Yo pedi fuerza para mi raza y Mexi me dia dificultades para hacerme mas fuerte sirviendo a mi raza. Yo pedi conocimiento y Mexi me dia dilemmas y complicaciones para resolver por mi raza. Yo pedi riquezas y Mexi me dia el poder del cerebro y la inteligencia para hacer lucha por mi raza. Yo pedi el amor y Mexi me dia el destino de la batalla de mi raza. Yo pedi favores y Mexi me dia oportunidades para servir mi raza con libertad y liberacian de nuestras vidas. Recibi nada de lo que qeria Recibi todo que necesitaba - - El destino, la fe, valor, amor, y la Espiritualidad antigua para mi raza. Porque soy Mexi-Kan Sirviente de mi raza. Ramiro R. Muniz - Tezcatlipoca U.S.P. Leavenworth P.O. Box 1000 Leavenworth, KS 66048-1000 --------- "RE: Minnesota Highway" --------- Date: Thu, 12 Nov 1998 11:05:32 EST From: MOONCLOUD@aol.com Subj: Fwd: We Need Your Help!!!!! Hi Gary, Don't know if I over looked this on some of my list mailings, but in case not, thought I'd forward to you.. Take care, Moon This message was forwarded to you from the NATIVE AMERICA: The Public Forum on Delphi. You can view this message and the related discussion by following this link: http://forums.delphi.com/m/main.asp?sigdir=native&mid=1162 ============================================================================ Forum: NATIVE AMERICA: The Public Forum Subj: We Need Your Help!!!!! From: dulce ex(JWAHIR) Please Help : distribute and reprint to all interested parties Sacred Sites Oyate. This is a call to all Native people. My name is Jim Anderson. I am the Cultural Chairman of the Mdewakanton Dakota Community. Right now, the Minnesota Department of Transportation is about to put an unneeded road through our sacred land. What they intend to do is cut four ancient oak trees that are planted in the four directions. It is a dance circle and the road is going to go right over this spot. This is against their own federal laws in the Indian Rights Act. They have, for the last ten years been disturbing our grandfather's bones and sacred items in the disguise of maintenance to cover themselves. I am making a plea to all my brothers, black, red, yellow and white in the name of the sacred Buffalo Calf Woman to come to this place and fight this wrong. We have joined with Big Woods Earth First! in defending this area, and have held off the bulldozers for over ten days now. We are growing stronger every day. My people, the Mendota Dakota are the guardians of this land and the Blue Man has come again to uproot these sacred trees that are over three hundred years old. They want to destroy our artesian well that has supplied our grandfathers since the beginning of time. For more information please contact me at DMKerr9@aol.com or 612-825-7050. We need your help. Pidamiya KodaJim Anderson --------- "RE: Lac Du Flambeau Treaty Run" --------- Date: Fri, 13 Nov 1998 08:34:33 -0600 From: "John Berry" Subj: (FWD)Indian News 11-13-98 Roger Iron Cloud FirstNations Listserv 202.358.3252 rironcloud@acf.dhhs.gov Tribal members concerned about treaty rights begin run to Washington c. Associated Press 11/11/98 LAC DU FLAMBEAU, Wis. (AP) -- Chippewa Indians concerned about treaty rights began a relay run to Washington, D.C., Wednesday with plans to arrive before the U.S. Supreme Court hears arguments are heard in a Minnesota dispute. Fifty people, including Lac Du Flambeau Chippewa Tribal Chairman Tom Maulson, attended a spiritual gathering at dawn on the reservation before 10 people embarked on the relay run, said Richard Matty, a spokesman for the tribe. The run is expected to take 16 days, followed by several days of ceremonies in Washington before the Supreme Court hears oral arguments Dec. 2 in a treaty rights case. At issue is whether the Chippewa retained off-reservation rights to hunt, fish and gather on land now in Minnesota that was sold to the federal government in an 1837 treaty. Lower courts have ruled that eight Chippewa bands retain those rights, but the state of Minnesota, and several counties and landowners disagree and have appealed. The disputed territory includes most of Lake Mille Lacs and all or parts of 12 east-central Minnesota counties. The Lac du Flambeau Chippewa is one of the bands authorized to exercise the off-reservation rights in Minnesota. The runners will carry a spiritual treaty staff during what is being called the Waabanong, or " back to the East, " Run, organizers said. " Carrying the treaty staff and the prayers of our people on foot to D.C. shows how deep our commitment is to the preservation of our treaty rights, " Maulson said in a statement. The staff was given to the Chippewa people by a Lakota Indian during a 1990 peace run that ended on the Lac du Flambeau Reservation in response to violence over the Chippewa exercising off-reservation rights to spear walleyes in northern Wisconsin lakes each spring. Since then, the staff has been kept at the reservation and taken into courtrooms when treaty rights were being litigated, Maulson said. The Chippewa in Wisconsin began exercising off-reservation hunting and fishing rights in the 1980s following a separate legal fight with the state over the interpretation of 19th century treaties. However, those legal battles never reached the U.S. Supreme Court after the state decided against further appeals. The running route goes through Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Maryland, organizers said. --------- "RE: Former Cherokee Eastern Band Chief in Court" --------- Date: Fri, 13 Nov 1998 08:34:33 -0600 From: "John Berry" Subj: (FWD)Indian News 11-13-98 Roger Iron Cloud FirstNations Listserv 202.358.3252 rironcloud@acf.dhhs.gov Former Cherokee Eastern Band principal chief in court By PAUL NOWELL c. Associated Press 11-10-98 ASHEVILLE (AP) Jonathan Taylor, once the powerful chief to 11,000 members of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, was released on bond Tuesday after appearing in federal court on charges of accepting bribes and tax evasion. "I'm not guilty. Now I get the chance to prove my innocence," Taylor said after he and his wife, Cleo, were processed by federal marshals after a brief hearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge Max Cogburn. Last month, a federal grand jury charged the couple in a six-count indictment. Taylor was charged with three tax evasion and two bribery counts and his wife was charged with one count of perjury. "I'm innocent and so is my wife," said Taylor, who used a wooden cane as he walked into the downtown courthouse. He was accompanied by his wife and their grown daughter, Savannah Wilnoty. Taylor smiled and said he was relieved. "We're grateful at least we now have the chance to go before a judge and 12 jurors," he said. "They (government prosecutors) have had four years to gather evidence against me. Now I have to prepare for my trial." No trial date was set during the hearing. "They are out to get him because they are scared of him," Mrs. Taylor said before getting into their car. "It's all political." Several tribal members sat behind the Taylors in the small third-floor courtroom. One of them was Ed Ledford, who holds the No. 2 post of vice chief at the reservation. "I have no comment," he said as he hurried out of the courthouse. Robert Taylor, the defendant's younger brother, said he didn't understand why his brother and sister-in-law were the only individuals targeted by the grand jury. "What about the others?" he said without elaborating. According to the Oct. 5 indictment, Taylor is charged with accepting bribes in 1993 and 1994 while the Eastern Band's principal chief. The indictment also alleged he owes $53,451 in federal income taxes he failed to pay for 1992, 1993 and 1994. Taylor served two terms as principal chief of the tribe until he was defeated by current Chief Joyce Dugan in 1995. He later was removed from the Tribal Council for using tribal employees to maintain his vehicles and homes. The bribery charges accuse Taylor of soliciting and accepting items of value from Betty Estes, "intending to be influenced or rewarded in connection with a business transaction, or series of transactions of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indian." The indictment said the bribes exceeded $10,000 in value. Estes was the former manager of the tribal bingo hall on the reservation, according to tribal council member Teresa McCoy. The indictment charged Mrs. Taylor lied under oath to a federal grand jury in April about the couple's finances. If convicted, Taylor could face up to 10 years in prison and a maximum $250,000 fine on each of the bribery charges and up to five years in prison and $250,000 fines on each tax evasion count. The perjury charge against Mrs. Taylor carries a maximum five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. According to the indictment, Mrs. Taylor testified that she and her husband received a total of $120,000 in loans from Estes during 1993 and 1994. Prosecutors said Estes did not sign the loan document Cleo Taylor produced for the grand jury and that the $120,000 was not a loan. Since Taylor's departure, there have been dramatic changes at the reservation. In the summer of 1996, the $82 million Harrah's Cherokee Casino opened with its 1,800 video gambling machines, three restaurants, an entertainment arena and 1,100 year-round jobs. --------- "RE: Alberni Res School Civil Suit Resumes" --------- Date: Wed, 28 Oct 1998 02:19:20 -0800 From: SISIS@envirolink.org (S.I.S.I.S.) Subj: Alberni Res School civil suit resumes :-:-:-:-:-:-:-Settlers In Support of Indigenous Sovereignty-:-:-:-:-:-:-: SCHOOL ABUSE LAWSUIT RESUMES AS DEATH OF WITNESS ASSESSED Victoria Times Colonist, October 19, 1998, by Roger Stonebanks [S.I.S.I.S. note: The following mainstream news article may contain biased or distorted information and may be missing pertinent facts and/or context. It is provided for reference only.] The long-running civil trial for compensation for sexual and physical abuse of children at the Alberni Indian Residential School restarts today in BC Supreme Court in Nanaimo. But it will be missing former school principal John Andrews who wanted to testify again that he knew nothing about the abuse when he was head of the school. Andrews died last month in Port Alberni of a massive heart attack. He was 82. Last February, he testified that he knew nothing about the abuse. But several subsequent witnesses said he did, including Arthur Henry Plint, 80, a former school dormitory supervisor. Plint was sentenced in 1995 to 11 years in the penitentiary after pleading guilty to numerous sexual assaults on boys. Justice Douglas Hogarth called him a "sexual terrorist". The civil suit was launched after the conclusion of the criminal base which stemmed from a major investigation by the RCMP. Plint testified last August that he yelled out "(expletive) liar" when he saw Andrews on television saying the first time he knew about the abuse was when charges were laid. Plint said he was fired by Andrews in 1968 but didn't know why. Andrews said Plint was fired for breaking a rule by having boys in his room. Plint then moved to Victoria. Nearly 30 former students at the school, which closed in 1972, are suing the federal government and the United Church of Canada for compensation for sexual assaults. Chris Hinkson, counsel for the United Church, said Saturday it is "hard to say" how the absence of Andrews will affect the case. "I'm not sure anything will really change," he said, noting that Andrews had already testified that he knew nothing about the abuse when he was principal. Andrews was present as a spectator when the trial continued last August but he died Sept. 25. He wanted to testify again to contradict what subsequent witnesses said of his knowledge of abuse at the school at the time. The trial, meanwhile, will continue over the next two weeks. It will then adjourn until April-May for another three weeks. The trial has been divided into three parts. In the first stage, Justice Donald Brenner held the federal government and United Church vicariously liable as employer/operator of the school for Plint's actions. The second stage is dealing with direct liability and specific knowledge. The third stage is assessment of damages which Brenner has estimated will take 20 weeks starting in September 1999. Brenner has urged the parties to continue out-of-court settlement discussions. However, there has been no progress towards a settlement. Hinkson said the plaintiffs have not specified settlement amounts. "It is hard to negotiate in a vacuum," he said. :-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-: Letters to Times-Colonist - mailto:jknox@victoriatimescolonist.com CANADA - A COUNTRY BASED ON GENOCIDE "Genocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such: *a) Killing members of the group; *b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; c) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its destruction, in whole or in part; d) Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group; *e) Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group." -- Convention for the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, 1948. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is distributed without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for non-profit research and educational purposes only. :-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-: S.I.S.I.S. Settlers In Support of Indigenous Sovereignty P.O. Box 8673, Victoria, "B.C." "Canada" V8X 3S2 EMAIL: SISIS@envirolink.org WWW: http://kafka.uvic.ca/~vipirg/SISIS/SISmain.html --------- "RE: Holiday to Recognize Indians" --------- Date: Sun, 15 Nov 1998 13:54:53 -0600 From: "John Berry" Subj: (FWD)Indian News 11-15-98 Roger Iron Cloud FirstNations Listserv 202.358.3252 rironcloud@acf.dhhs.gov Holiday to recognize Indians c. Tulsa World 11/15/98 TULSA (AP) -- Oklahoma, whose name means "Land of the Red People" in the Choctaw tongue, is paying tribute to its tribal population with a state- sanctioned day of recognition. Legislation that Gov. Frank Keating signed in April created Oklahoma Native American Day on the third Monday of November each year. "All citizens of this state are requested to devote some portion of Oklahoma Native American Day to commemorate the accomplishments of Oklahoma's Native Americans," according to House Bill 2822. "Teachers and students of the schools of this state are requested to observe the day with appropriate activities." American Indians say the occasion goes beyond a token gesture. It introduces a time, they say, to applaud the culture of the 536,000 Sooner residents who claim Indian heritage. Barbara Warner, executive director of the Oklahoma Indian Affairs Commission, said all eyes will be on the Indian way of life Monday. --------- "RE: Mine Owner Threatens Law Suit" --------- Date: Sun, 15 Nov 1998 13:54:53 -0600 From: "John Berry" Subj: (FWD)Indian News 11-15-98 Roger Iron Cloud FirstNations Listserv 202.358.3252 rironcloud@acf.dhhs.gov Mine owner says he will sue state over trucking dispute with tribe c. Associated Press 11-12-98 ESPANOLA, N.M. (AP) Gravel-mine operator Richard Cook says he will "sue the hell out of the state" if state officials don't support him in an ongoing trucking dispute with San Juan Pueblo over his mine in El Guique. "The state of New Mexico should be protecting our rights to use the highways," Cook said Wednesday. "They're not protecting our civil rights. They're violating them." San Juan Pueblo Lieutenant Governor Dennis Oyenkue said today that the tribe's attorney is looking into the matter but wouldn't comment further. A convoy of about 30 trucks hauling gravel from the El Guique mine for Cook's company, Espanola Transit Mix, was stopped Tuesday on a 2-mile stretch of N.M. 582 that passes through San Juan Pueblo north of Espanola. At the request of pueblo officials, two motor transportation division officers from the state Department of Public Safety stopped the trucks. The state officers issued one weight-limit citation, w